Stuck on You
by Joey Destructo
Summary: Direct sequel to Not a Wrinkle, But a Tear. The Symphonians are stuck on Earth and are forced to adapt to Japanese life. Major crossovers and pairings present. I selected Zelos and Presea because they are the most prominent characters. Please R&R. Ch.11 u
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't anything that I've written about in this story, so don't sue!

Soun Tendo watched a little unsurely as the eleven strangers eagerly ate up the cheap ramen dinner his daughter Kasumi had made. All except for the rust-haired man, who ate slowly, dignified, and watchfully. "So, uh, Lloyd," said Soun when the boy had finished his meal, "where are you from?" Lloyd glanced over at Kratos, who returned his look. "Well, we could tell you, but," began Lloyd. "Then we'd have to kill you!" chimed in Zelos, earning him a good whollop from Sheena. "Where'd he pick up _that_ one?" whispered Genis to Colette, who shrugged embarrassedly, knowing it came from that lecherous old man, Happosai. However, as the old dude was seated at that very table, Colette said nothing, so that they wouldn't get themselves in any more trouble than Zelos had stealing panties with the geezer the first night, last night, that they had arrived in this city. Already a number of glances had passed between the partners in crime, and to the Tendos and Saotomes, the looks of anxiety, humor, and seriousness were bewildering. No one pursued it, gratefully.

"What we meant," said Kratos, closing his eyes in irritation, "is that if we told you where we are from, you would likely not understand and might ridicule us. So you must pardon us. If you still wish to know, we will tell you, but we must ask you to hear us out." "Please, do tell," said Akane politely. "We come from a parallel universe," said Raine bluntly. Kratos spread his arms helplessly. "You see?" he said. "There is far more to the tale, if you wish to know it. If you are willingly to listen for a while, we will tell you our story in full." The residents considered this, and agreed. Then, after moving to the living area, Kratos began the story.

"To start this story, I must tell the future. Or rather, the future as it could have been. Or once was. Whatever. In any case, there existed an alternate timeline where an organization from our world came to yours, and drastically altered the planet. They built a giant tower, and caused a deadly sickness. To cut this part of the story short, Ranma fell prey to this sickness, and by my comrade Botta's efforts was cured with some of his allies' abilities. Thereafter you set out to destroy the tower and restore the world back to the way it was with a group of your friends. Along the way you met us and also a group know as the Shinsengumi. Together we destroyed the tower and sent the world back in time to a date shortly before the remnants of our evil organization arrived here. However, time changed things this time around so that an event like that would not happen again. Did you hear about that plane crash? It killed the survivors of Cruxis, the evil organization plotting to overthrow our worlds. However, when time was sent back, we were stuck in this world, and didn't belong. Thus, we were caught in this world and it didn't know how to rewind us, if you will, back to this day. So we still have all our memories, even if you do not. So we actually know more about you than you know about us. At least, right now."

Kratos sat down, and Raine stood up. "Now I will give you a concise version of the history of our world," she said, and cleared her throat. Lloyd groaned mentally. _Do I have to study here, too!_ he wondered. _Can't I get a break in another world, at least!_ He found himself dozing off, and soon he was asleep. When he woke up, Raine was finished, questions had been answered, everyone seemed enlightened, and Ranma looked amazed. (You probably would too, if you found out you had crushed an evil organization in the future and gone back in time so that you had no memory of it). "Well, now that that's cleared up," said Zelos, "on to the real business: Where do we sleep?" Zelos' head thunked when hit by Sheena's fist. "What he means," she said, aggravated, "is we would be very grateful if you would allow us to sleep under your roof tonight, and if you might help us with a few things in the morning." Soun bowed low. "It would be my honor," he said, and showed them to the training hall.

"It's not much," said Soun, "but I'm afraid you'll have to sleep here, as we don't have much in the way of guest rooms." The group appraised the long room with gratitude. "It's definitely a lot better than some of the places I've slept before," remarked Lloyd. "It's great!" said Colette. "Thank you so much!" Soun blushed and rubbed his head. "Not at all, little lady!" he replied. "Well, if you need anything, I'm sure someone will be glad to help you. I'll be right back with some things for you to sleep on." He bowed, and left them alone while he went to retrieve some air mattresses. Lloyd sat down, kicked off his boots, and laid back with a sigh. "I could go to sleep right now," he said tiredly. "Wouldn't you rather change first?" asked Colette. "I'm just expressing my exhaustion," he replied as if Colette didn't understand figures of speech (which she often didn't).

Soun returned and set up the eleven air mattresses he'd managed to find throughout the house and covered them with sheets, blankets, and pillows. He wished them a good night, and left, shutting the door behind him. Wearily, they disrobed and crawled into bed. It wasn't until they had all gotten in that they realized the light was still on. "Dammit," whined Lloyd. "What do we do?" Raine grumbled. "You get up and turn it off," she said, rolling her eyes. "But I don't wanna!" he complained. "Do it now, or you don't get anything more from me!" Sheena threatened. Not wanting to lose his already limited privileges with her, Lloyd grudgingly got up and flicked the switch off. Everyone sighed. After a moment, Sheena patted Lloyd's bed, wanting to give him a kiss in thanks for getting the light, only to find he hadn't returned. "Uh, Lloyd?" she said. "Yeah?" he replied. "Aren't you going to go back to bed?" she asked. "Well, I would, but, I can't see a thing!" he said.

"You need to eat more carrots," said Kratos. "Huh?" said Lloyd. "Why?" "Because carrots contain carotene," said Genis, "and carotene improves your night vision." "Whoa," said Lloyd. "So if I eat a lot of carrots, I can have night vision!" Raine sighed. "Unfortunately not," said Raine. "Human eyes can only work so well. Eventually, your eyes get as good as they get, and then you turn orange from the excessive pigment in carrots." "Pig-mint?" said Lloyd. "A mint for pigs?" Something struck him in the side of the head. "Oww," he said. "Pigments are substances that give things color," said Raine, "and carrots contain an orange pigment. Now get to bed, before I find something else to throw."  
"But," began Lloyd. "Now!" she yelled. "Yes, ma'am," he said meekly. He strained his eyes, and took a few hesitant steps forward. Lloyd's foot struck something and he tripped forwards. "Man, you guys, I'm trying to get my beauty sleep," Zelos said, irritated, shoving Lloyd off of himself and onto Lloyd's bed. "I think you're already beautiful enough," said Colette. "Why, thank you!" said Zelos, completely flattered. "But when referring to a man, use the term handsome, not beautiful, although it does describe me well!" "Alright, well, if everyone's through," said Regal, "I would like to get some sleep." "As would I," said Presea. "Yes, that's a good idea," said Raine. "We've got a lot to do tomorrow, so let's get some rest. And if anyone says anything more, I'll find something and nail you with it." After that, everyone settled down, in fear of Raine's fearsome projectile launching skills. All that was heard were couples exchanging goodnight kisses, and then there was nothing but the peaceful sound of deep breathing.

Kratos woke up first, as usual. He stood up, stretched, gathered up his clothes, and tiptoed to the door, so as to not wake any of his friends. He found Kasumi in the kitchen, about to start cooking breakfast. "May I use a bath?" he asked her. "Certainly!" she said. "Up the stairs, down the hall to the right, first door on the left. Towels are in the cabinet." Kratos bowed. "Thank you," he said, and followed her directions to the bathroom. He shut the door and locked it behind him. He sighed, looking upon their bathroom. Although he had been on Earth a long while, he had never had the experience of dealing with all their technology and fixtures. Fortunately, everything was labeled. Unfortunately, it was all in Japanese, of which he knew nothing. He remembered one of Ranma's friends saying that Japanese could possibly be a language in Symphonia. "'Fujibayashi'?" he had said. "'That's definitely Japanese.'" They had been in this city for a while, but Sheena hadn't said anything. He sighed, and decided to get Sheena. Lucky for him, she had just gotten up. Kratos slid the door open and saw her pick up her regular clothes. He signaled for her to come with him, and she came to the door. He led her to the bathroom.

"What's up?" Sheena asked when they came to the bathroom door. "I was hoping you might be able to read this," said Kratos, gesturing to the sink and shower. "Hey!" said Sheena. "Yes?" asked Kratos. "I can read it," she said. "I thought so," said Kratos. "Remember how that one guy said your name was Japanese? And that Japanese might be a language in our world-" "Such as Mizuho," Sheena finished. "Alright, well, the left on both of them say 'hot', and the right ones say 'cold'. I assume that's the water temperature?" "Probably," said Kratos. "Well, thank you. If you'd like, I'll let you know when I'm finished." "That would be great," said Sheena, and left Kratos to his bath.

Without too much difficulty, Kratos discovered the advent of the Earth shower, and passed on the wisdom of the modern bathroom to the others. Sheena went in next, and had just turned on the hot water when she thought she heard a noise in the bathroom. She slowly drew the shower curtain and peered out. There was nothing, and she let the shower curtain return to its normal position. Sheena took a washcloth and soaped it up, and was about to start washing herself when, out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw the curtain move. She looked at it, pulled the curtain back, and checked the bathroom again. Nothing. _Of course,_ she thought. "I guess I'm just imagining things," she said out loud. She closed her eyes and start lathering her body. _Three, two, one, _she thought. Abruptly she dropped the washcloth and drove her fists into both ends of the shower curtain, and got two fistfuls of face. She wrapped herself in a towel and flung aside the curtain. Zelos and Happosai laid in pain on the floor, clutching their noses. "You damn perverts!" she yelled. "You're gonna get it good this time! There's no escape!"

That was when the two peepers knew they were screwed. They knew the worst that could happen on your voyeur trips was to get caught, because unlike the police, women have no laws to hold them back from cruel and unusual punishment. Zelos tried to get up and run, but Sheena grabbed Happosai and flung him through the door and out into the hallway, where he happened to trip down the stairs, hit his head on a sword Ranma had left out and landed in one of Kasumi's pots of boiling something or other. Sheena grinned sadistically. "Now you get yours," she hissed. "Oh no," moaned Zelos. A kick to the shins put him on the floor, and Sheena jumped with both feet and smashed them down in the two worst places for Zelos: his crotch, and his face. Zelos groaned, and rolled over and out the door Sheena had broken, rolled down the stairs and tumbled into the kitchen, where Kasumi accidentally spilled a pot of boiling water all over him. Zelos laid there for a long while, lamenting his situation. Happosai joined him. Sheena finished her shower. The others went afterwards, even Zelos, though his was icy cold to sooth the pain. Zelos went last, and as he limped to the table, Kasumi put the food on the table. The group took one look at him and shook their heads, pitying and laughing at him at the same time. Zelos looked like misery incarnate, and he ate slowly with his hand supporting his head.

"So, what can we do for you today?" asked Soun during the meal. Sheena raised her hand in mid-bite. She swallowed, and lowered her hand. "I'll field this one," she said. "We need to find a place for us to stay, at least temporarily. I think we can pay for it, but we don't know how to actually go through the processes." "Do you have jobs?" inquired Soun. "Or go to school?" Lloyd wiped his mouth and handed Soun a slip of paper. "We got that from a crazy lady," he said. "Is it a lot of money?" Soun unfolded it, and his jaw dropped. "F-five b-bi-billion yen!" he exclaimed. "How did you get this!" "Not sure, really," said Sheena. "Some lady stopped us on the street, took us to a studio, and took a bunch of, uh, 'pictures', and made some drawings, and then she gave Lloyd and me this piece of paper. She said we were her greatest inspiration ever, and that she could start a whole clothing line based on just us two, but then she saw the rest of us and tore up the old piece of paper and gave me this one. She was going wild."

"Not everyday you get to start a new trend," said Nabiki, wishing she could start a fashion trend and get rich like them. She wanted the money so bad... Akane elbowed her greedy sister. "You're drooling," said Akane. Nabiki wiped her chin and laughed. "Heh, heh," she said. Everyone was staring. "Sorry," she muttered. "So, how much is it?" asked Regal. "Enough to be considered a quite wealthy person, at least," said Genma Saotome. "You've got five billion yen there. To put it in perspective for you, a cheap item, like a pencil, costs fifty yen. A pair of very good shoes costs ten thousand. A fairly expensive house costs fifty million. Yeah, you've got a lot there. However, you need to first get a bank account, and to do that, you're gonna need to exist. Your lives aren't on file. There's no record of you being born, so to this world, you're strangers. If you'd like, I could go down with you to the office to get you registered." They considered this for a long moment. "I suppose we might as well," said Raine finally. "After we get that cleared up, then we can purchase a place to live, and after that-" "Let's not look too far ahead," said Yuan. "Take it one thing at a time. Are we ready to go?"

Everyone nodded. "Then let's get registered," he said.

After a very, very straining day with the bastards at city hall, everyone in Lloyd's group managed to get set up as a citizen of Japan. When they came home, Genma went mumbling to his bed, and the others went to the dojo.

"Damn," said Lloyd, rubbing his eyes. "Who thought it would be so hard just to get put on some lousy file?" Raine yawned. "Well," she said, "there could be a lot of reasons for the difficulty of the whole thing, but I think it was mostly that we didn't have any prior information. We really don't know all that much about this world. Lucky for us Genma filled in for us where we had gaps." "No more talking," said Presea, and no one argued. Soon, everyone was fast asleep, dreaming of how to get back at those damn bureaucrats.

The next morning, they woke up late, feeling ready to find a place of their own, where they could, uh, do whatever. Soun was already up, and he showed them the front page. It read:

FOR SALE: ONE MANSION

Soun read the article out loud to them. It seemed a millionaire had recently passed away, and his next of kin, who were to inherit a winter home in Tokyo, decided to sell it rather than keep it. It was being sold to the highest bidder, and the first bid had to be at least a million yen. "Why are they selling it so cheap?" asked Ranma when Soun finished. "They could easily get a hundred times that for a place that sweet!" "I don't know," replied Soun, "but if you're interested in this place, you'd better buy it soon, or someone else will, for certain."

"It sounds like a good idea," said Kratos. "I second the opinion," said Yuan. "All in favor, then?" said Botta. "Aye!" they all said in unison. "Then it's decided," said Raine. "Can we get someone to take a few of us there?" "Well, yes," said Soun, "but I'm afraid you have no money to do so. All your cash is in that check. You haven't created a bank account to put that money in, so you can't access any of it at this time. However, if you make an agreement, I would be happy to lend you the money..."

"Of course," said Kratos. "We'll reimburse you as soon as we have access to our money. Do you require a formal document?" Soun thought a moment. "Give me your word," he said, "and that will satisfy me." Kratos bowed low, and placed his hand over his heart. "Upon my honor as a warrior, I give you my word that I shall do as you have said," Kratos said somberly. Soun seemed pleased by this. "All right then, my friend," he said, offering his hand to Kratos, who took it and rose, "we have an accord. Let's get you that house."

"Uh, why, again, are you selling the house so cheap?" asked Soun as he wrote out the check for the young couple. The husband laughed and said, "Well, it just wasn't to our liking, and, apparently, wasn't to others. We showed it to many of our friends, but they all agreed they didn't like it. They said to sell it, and sell it cheap, otherwise we wouldn't get any money out of it." He shrugged. "Well, it's not like we really need any more money, really. My late relative also left me a substantial sum of money for debts he felt he incurred with me, and, because, well, I think he just liked me." Soun tore off the check and handed it to the man, who inspected it briefly, and then endorsed and folded it and put it in his pocket. "When this check clears, we will transfer official ownership to you via computer," said the couples' agent, who had come along with them. "Until then, we'll give you the documental deed for your records. Remember, this deed isn't official until we confirm transfer of ownership, at which time we will also give you the combination to the lockbox that contains the two sets of house keys."

With that, the agent turned and walked back to his car. The couple waved cheerfully and got in their new sports car. "We'll call you the moment you own the house!" called the woman. The man turned the key, backed out of the driveway and sped off, laughing. "Well, they seemed nice," said Lloyd. "Yes, very," said Raine, who was a little irritated by their attitude. _Why can't the wealthy ever just act...normal!_ she thought. Soun's cell phone rang, and he answered it. "Mr. Tendo?" said the young woman who had just left. "Yes?" he said. "I just called to tell you that the house officially belongs to your friends the Sages, Mr. Aurion, Mr. Irving, Ms. Combatir, Mr. Bryant, Mr. Yuan, Mr. Botta, Mr. Wilder, Ms. Fujibayashi, and Ms. Brunel! Thanks for your business! The combination is thirty-five, twenty-five, nine." Soun was confused, and with good reason. "Um, how did you do everything so fast?" he asked her, puzzled. "Oh, well, there's a bank down the street with a fast computer!" she replied. "Well, if there's any concerns, you have my number! Ciao!" Raine heard everything, and shook her head. "Ohh, my head," she complained. Every idiot seemed to give her a migraine.

Soun handed the deed over to Kratos. "Well, it's yours now," Soun said. Kratos took it and examined it. "We'll need a bank account soon, Soun," he said. "Let's head on over to that bank."

Within an hour, Kratos' group had a bank account, able to be used by all of them, and Soun was paid back in full. Afterwards, they headed over to a Volkswagen dealership and purchased a brand new van, with which Soun drove all of Kratos' comrades over to the furniture store, and then to the house. Once they finished unloading all their new furniture, Soun handed Kratos the keys and prepared to leave. Kratos looked at the keys mournfully.

"Ah, yes, that's right," said Soun, rubbing his mustache. "None of you know how to drive a car, hmmm? Well, tomorrow I'll have someone come over and get your eligible ones into driver's education classes. So, I guess that means everyone but Genis and Presea will get to go."

"But Presea's old enough!" Genis protested. Soun frowned. "You may be actually old enough," he said, "but unfortunately, you do not look it. Besides, you are registered as twelve years old." Presea nodded. "I understand," she said. Genis cocked his head. "Say, Presea," he said, "have you gotten taller?" Lloyd measured them with his eyes. "I think she is," he said. "She's almost eye level with you, Genis. Huh. Maybe her growth is starting up again from the time she had the crystal stuck in her?" "That's incredible, Lloyd!" exclaimed the Professor. "That's exactly what I was thinking! Your deductive powers are improving, Lloyd." Lloyd blushed. "Really?" he said.

Sheena smirked. "Then that means we'll have to go shopping soon," she said. "For a LOT of stuff." Presea blushed. She knew exactly the kinds of things she was talking about, and so did everyone else. It wasn't just new dresses. "Ah, yeah," she said embarrassedly. "Well, I guess I'll go then," said Soun, faking naïveté. With that he shut the door, leaving them to themselves.

Kratos checked out the house. "Not bad, if I say so myself," he said upon returning to the living room, where everyone else was. "But, there are only seven bedrooms. Meaning eight people will have to share rooms. Who will-" Before he finished, Genis grabbed Presea's hand, Sheena grabbed Lloyd's, Zelos grabbed Colette's, and Raine grabbed Regal's. "We'll share," they all said at once. "That was odd," said Yuan. "Then it's settled," said Botta. "The bachelors get their own rooms, and the couples get theirs."

Kratos sighed and fell back on a couch. "So, what are we going to do now?" he asked tiredly. "I want cable," said Zelos. "And I want the young ones to finish their education," said Raine. "It's important for them, should we be trapped in this world. At least they'll have something to do." "But it's a different planet!" complained Lloyd. "Sure, stuff like math will be the same, but what about science? Geography? History? We'll flunk, because we don't know _squat_ about this planet and its ways." "You have a point," said Raine, admitting defeat. "All right, you won't to go to a school formally. But I'll home school you some, at least until you know what you need."

"Thanks, Raine," said Lloyd, feeling much better. School at home was always better, especially with the Professor. With her around, he could actually learn.

There came a soft, friendly knock at the door. Presea went to answer it. She opened it, and looked up. And up. And up. "Yes?" she said. "May I help you?" The person at the door was surprised, for he said, "You are not afraid?" in a deep, pleasant voice. "No," said Presea, looking at him funny. "Who is it, Presea?" asked Sheena. "I don't know, but he's not human," came the reply. The look on everyone's face was the same: _What?_

They all rushed to the door, to find Presea craning her neck all the way back to look up at the face of a seven foot, six inch tall, uh, person. She was right; he was not human. However, he was humanoid. His legs had two knee joints, and ended in large hooves. His long, slender fingers clenched and unclenched gracefully. He wore ornate silver armor, and where it did not cover, pebbled gray material showed through. His face showed that his skin was a dark grayish brown color. He had four mouthpieces, but no lower jaw to speak of. His eyes were small, but showed extreme calm, caring, and intelligence. Despite his armor, he looked quite friendly, but thoroughly nervous. "You humans do not assume I am in disguise?" he asked. "No..." said Lloyd.

"Hmm," the alien said. "You are different than the others, I can tell. I humbly ask a favor of you all." He bowed low, placing a hand on his stomach, in what they assumed was a humble gesture. "What do you want?" asked Kratos. "A place to live," he said. "I have need of lodging while I am on this planet, and I have gathered that no one else will accept me."

"So," said Lloyd, "you're from another planet?" "That is correct," said the alien. "Well, it's no wonder everyone thought you weren't for real," said Zelos. "They thought you were wearing a costume. Neither world we've been on has made formal contact with a species of another planet." The alien seemed puzzled. "I don't understand," he said. "Well, why don't you come in," said Raine, "and we'll get everything sorted out."

For the umpteenth time, Lloyd's group explained to their visitor their story. "Intriguing," said the alien when they had finished. "Say, you never told us your name," said Genis. "Yeah, what is it?" asked Colette. The alien made what seemed to be a smile, although it looked sort of like a grimace. "Roivas Ruo Si Retibra Eht," he said, "is my full, official name, though most people simply call me by my title of Arbiter. Well, sometimes I'm referred to by my birth name, Ruza 'Falamee." "So we can call you the Arbiter?" asked Regal. "That is fine," said the Arbiter. "Or just Arbiter. Whatever pleases you."

"Well, then, Arbiter," said Yuan, "what brings you to this world?" The Arbiter glanced down. "My beliefs," he said. "Or, rather, the beliefs of my people. My people believe it their destiny to rule the galaxy. The Forerunners, builders of the sacred Ring and the source of much of our knowledge, have left behind artifacts in this galaxy, and our Prophets have interpreted them as a way to salvation and glory. Falsely, however. What they intend will not occur. They believe that with the completion of what we call the Great Journey, our people will rule the galaxy. So far, it has not succeeded in recorded history. Though it did occur in real history, approximately sixty-five million years ago, through the actions of the

Forerunners themselves. What our people do not know is that the Ring, this Halo, is not a key to salvation. It is a key to destruction.

Long ago, the Forerunners discovered a parasitic species that destroyed all and made slaves of all life, and eventually food. They called it the Flood. They managed to seal the Flood away, but in case they should ever get out, they created a Ring, which we call Halo. However, I believe there are more. They float in space, like a silver ring on the outside, but like a planet on the inside. Each is a terrible weapon, capable of destroying all life in the galaxy when activated in harmony, thereby rendering the Flood harmless by removing their food. Though I have discovered this, I dare not reveal it to my people, to the Covenant, for they would declare it heresy, and I would be terminated. All my knowledge would be lost. Which is why I have sought refuge here. I have seen records of previous war, actual war, and visions of war to come, and I am certain that sooner or later, our peoples' paths will cross for the worse. Your people will discover the truth, and we will ignore it, leading us to yet more war. I have done what I can to stop the last Journey, but I could not stay, should they find out what I have done. I need to rest, and plan my next move."

He stopped talking, and took a deep breath. "I think I speak for all of us," said Raine, "when I say we would be glad to have you here, Arbiter." Her friends all nodded in agreement. "Thank you," he said. "If I may, I would like to rest now." Raine nodded. "Do you have any preferences?" she asked. The Arbiter sighed. "No," he said, "right now I could sleep anywhere." "I'm pretty sure we all could," said Sheena. "Yes," said Raine, "I think it's all time we got to bed."

The Arbiter woke up in the middle of the night. He was laying on a couch, though he didn't remember lying down on it. He slowly got up, and stretched. He saw a dim light in a room past a hallway. He soundlessly walked over to it. He entered the doorway and looked around. To his left he saw an open door from some sort of appliance. Light spilled out from inside the door. He walked over to it, and reached his arm forward to shut it, when suddenly it closed by itself. The little pink haired girl was standing there, holding a container of some sort. When she saw the Arbiter with his arm reaching towards her she gasped and dropped the box. With a swift movement of his long, slender arm, he caught the container and handed it to her. "I apologize for alarming you," said the Arbiter softly. The girl's chest heaved, and her breathing returned to normal soon. "It's fine," she said. She set the box down on a table. "I was just startled."

The Arbiter glanced at the box she held. "What were you doing?" he asked. Presea looked at it. "I was hungry," she said. The Arbiter smiled. "I always get hungry at night as well," he said. "Although I am not sure what you have that I would like." The Arbiter noted she wore only a thin gown for sleeping in. However, it had a fine sheen to it. He crouched down, and removed one of his gloves. With his fingers, he reached to touch it, and stopped. A thought had struck him. "May I?" he asked. She nodded, hoping she understood what he meant. He grasped the fringe of her gown and felt it with his strong but gentle fingers. "It is a wonder to touch," he said. "It's silk," said Presea. "It was, somewhat expensive." The Arbiter released it, a look of grief in his eyes. "Comfort makes a soldier soft; there are no luxuries for the warrior," he whispered, barely audible. Presea looked at him oddly.

"A maxim," the Arbiter said. He stood up. "I have seen your eyes, Presea. A thousand wounds have hurt you, but a few friends have healed them all. I know that you have seen pain in your life, but your friends have helped you through, and have strengthened you. They are a precious gift, Presea. Would you help me, and, share some of the pain? Would you care to see the things I have seen?" Presea could not refuse the grievance, the sorrow in his eyes. "Y-yes," she whispered, afraid, but wanting to help. "It is a somewhat intimate thing, to share thoughts," said the Arbiter. "I must contact your most important areas: your mind, and your heart. I must touch the flesh near them to communicate with them. I know where your mind is, but you will have to guide me to your heart."

Presea was nervous, but she sensed no ill will from this creature. And, after all, she said she would help. She sat down on a chair, close to and facing the Arbiter. She slipped the straps off her shoulders, and her gown fell about her waist. The Arbiter placed one hand on her soft, warm face, and the other Presea guided to the tender flesh of her left breast. He closed his eyes, and she followed suit. She waited for what seemed a long time, and was about to say something when suddenly, it began.

Energy coursed through her body, and it felt like electric hands seized her heart and brain. She held back a cry at a moment of intense pain. Her back tensed, her chest came forward, and she felt sick. She moaned as the pain came back. Her back spasmed back, and then her chest came forward again, and the nausea came back, stronger than before. She moaned even louder. "I'm sorry," whispered the Arbiter fervently. "Almost there..." The pain surged, her back went back, her chest came forward, and she felt like retching when suddenly it stopped. Then, there was nothing.

Abruptly, she heard herself breathing, deeper than she remembered. Her heart pounded, but it was in the wrong place. It was too far over to the right. Abruptly, light came from beneath her, and then she was falling, falling, and she saw a green sky. Then she landed on her feet, and was running. The sound of plasma rifles firing was strange to her, but somehow it seemed familiar. She wondered why she knew what they were. She ran, uncommanded, past a building and into a courtyard. A pitiful rabble of sentients tried to fight off the onslaught off her comrades, but were completely obliterated. She ran off, following another of her kind, somehow knowing its name, until they ran into another group of poorly armed defenders.

Blue bolts of energy came from her side, and Presea realized she was firing them. She noticed the weight of the gun for the first time. She was too distracted being horrified. With her weapon, she killed them all, and then ran off in search of more. She found three more groups, and once again killed them all. Each time she tried to stop from shooting, but she had no control over any part of her body. She was on the verge of mental tears when everything went black again.

When she returned, she still felt the unfamiliar heartbeat and heard the unfamiliar breath. Then a light turned on, and she could see she was in a rocky tunnel. Several more of her kind were in it as well. "They are coming," said one of them. She hefted a fuel rod cannon, and waited for the Flood to arrive. Again she was struck by how she knew what everything was. She had no more time to wonder, for several little squid-like creatures leaped towards them from behind a boulder. Plasma bolts from her allies took them out, while she waited for the larger ones. Suddenly there came a scream from the left. A group of Flood had latched on to her best friend and had almost taken his body. "Kill him!" ordered her commander. The cannon trembled in her hands, and she blinked back tears. "But..." she protested. "Now!" shouted her commander. "Before he loses all control, you must destroy him! He doesn't want to harm us, so don't let him!" Presea whispered an unbidden plea for forgiveness, and fired her cannon. Her best friend died in a blast of heat. Presea turned swiftly and launched a volley of rods towards the coming Flood, choking back tears and aiming with blurry eyes.

Abruptly the vision changed. Now she was in a dark alleyway, alone, with the sounds of gunfire and plasma discharges all around. Her head turned so that she looked at her right arm. In her hand she grasped the hilt of a sword made of energy. Suddenly, footsteps rang loud outside the alley. They were about to pass her alley. She crept closer to the end, and pressed her back up against the wall. A human male ran past, and she stepped out behind him and plunged the energy blade into his back. Presea screamed in her mind, unable to do so with her vocal chords. The man went limp, and she withdrew the blade. As he fell, something black slid out of a back pocket. Presea's body bent down and retrieved it. Opening it caused several slips of green paper flutter out, and a row of plastic slots to unfold. Examining the slots, she saw there were pictures in them. In one, the man she had just killed played with a dog. In another he smiled with a woman and three children. In another, he held that woman in an embrace and kissed her. In another one, he beamed while he held up a young infant, presumably his son or daughter. In another...

With a bellow, Presea's body flung the wallet down in a fit of emotion. "What's wrong?" asked a comrade who had just shown up. "What are the Prophets telling us to do?" Presea said, her voice oddly deep and choked with anger. "Every decision they've made has led us to war. Against innocents and defenseless races as well as these humans! And what difference does it make if they stand a chance!" Presea stooped and picked up the wallet and flipped it open to show him the pictures. "They're not savages! They have lives! I just ended his, in a cowardly way at that. Why do you think they go to war? Because they have things they love as well. Things they want to protect. You go to war to protect your wife, do you not? He did as well. Think of how it will go: the female sits alone with her children, hoping her husband will come home safely. And then she gets the news that he's dead. She'll never see him again, and the children will never know their father. Would you like that! Would you like someone more powerful than you to take away the things you love!"

Her fellow soldier was quiet, head down. He looked back up. "We cannot do this much longer," he said. "But we can we do?" Presea's body looked towards the cruelly beautiful blue sky. "I don't know," she said. "But we have to do something."

With those words, it ended. It was black. She opened her eyes, and she saw nothing. Slowly, her vision returned to her. The Arbiter was over her, his hands still on her body, his eyes still shut. She cast her eyes downward, and saw she lay naked on a couch. "I had to move you," he said. "You were getting violent, and also, it is just easier to do when the one receiving is laying down. At least for the first time, anyway. You shouldn't move at all for at least a few minutes." He opened his eyes, and waited a few moments before lifting his hands. An unseen force made it feel as though his hands were magnetized to her body, and a strange sensation rippled on the places he touched her. The Arbiter stood and looked down at her. She blushed deep red.

He smiled again. "There is no need to be embarrassed," he said. Piece by piece, he removed his armor and his undersuit. He spread his arms. "Do you find me attractive?" he asked rhetorically. He shook his head. "You'll also have to forgive me if I don't understand your moral code. Where I come from, clothes are but formality, a decoration, and it was never necessary to conceal one's nakedness. On my homeworld, we believe in openness, and it is not the exposure of the genitals that is most important, but how you use them. From what I've seen, at least of this planet, it is the other way around."

Presea had to agree. "Another reason for the nakedness was because it taught everyone a valuable lesson: that everyone is mortal, everyone is the same, and life is frail."

The Arbiter clothed himself again. He stared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you're just so, well, what is the word?" he said. He laughed. "Ah, yes. Cute." Presea blushed again. "It's just that, well, you're so small. Even more so than most humans. And your pink flesh and soft curves make me smile. Also, you sort of remind me of a frolicking little character on my world. They called them Dream Travelers, or-" "Klonoas?' ventured Presea, rolling her eyes and forgetting who she was talking to for a moment. "That's right," said the Arbiter. "How did you know?" "The Klonoa is also a fictional character in my world," she said, disturbed slightly. "Hmm," he said. "Well, I think you can move now." Presea carefully lifted her head, feeling only a slight twinge of pain. Then she sat up fully, and looked down at herself. She felt her breasts. Sheena was right; she was going to need some new clothes. Presea was apprehensive about puberty, but, well, she had weathered worse storms. "Here is your garment," said the Arbiter, handing Presea her nightgown. She slipped it on, and yawned. "What time is it?" she asked.

The Arbiter looked around. "Six and thirty-two," he said, seeing a digital clock on a table. "That must have taken longer than I thought," said Presea. The Arbiter nodded. "It does take a good deal of time," he said. Presea remembered the images she had seen, and the questions the Arbiter had asked. "I would be honored to be the one to be there to help you, Arbiter," she said with a smile. The Arbiter smiled back. "Thank you," he replied.

Soon, everyone was up and eating breakfast. Zelos grinned and glanced over at Presea, Genis, and the Arbiter. "Say Raine," he said loudly, "you said you wanted to home-school the kids, right?" "Yes..." she replied, wary of what he was going to suggest. "Seems you got an extra student, don't you?" he asked. "Yes..." she repeated. "And I know you're a great teacher," Zelos said, putting up his hands, "but I thought maybe you could use a little help." "Me?" she said. "Her?" said Genis. "With what?" asked Raine, a little put off. "Well, I'm know you're great in most subjects," he said, the grin growing broader, "but if I'm right, I'll bet you haven't worked up the nerve to teach any of your students, human or alien, the fascinating class of sexual education." Half of the people at the table coughed. Kratos hid a smile behind his mouth.

Zelos kept his grin. The blood drained from Raine's face. Then she sighed. "I hate to say it but you're right," she said. "I just can't teach it." "And I suppose you want to?" said Regal. "I'd be more than willing," Zelos said. Then his voice turned real sly. "Unless, of course, you'd like to teach it." Regal paled. "Well, I wasn't saying that," he fumbled. "Then maybe Kratos?" suggested Zelos in his sly tone. "You wanna teach your son Lloyd about the birds and the bees?" Kratos said nothing, but kept his hand over his mouth. "Huh?" said Lloyd. "What do birds and bees have to do with sex?" Zelos looked stumped. "I still don't know that," he said. "Well, Zelos," said Sheena, "it looks like you got the job, 'cause I sure ain't doing it!" "Neither are we," said Yuan and Botta. "Just stick to the program," pleaded Raine. "Don't give them the names of all the positions, or anything like that." Zelos held up his hands. "Hey, sure," he said. "I'll go by the book. It still doesn't mean I won't have fun with it!" Zelos cleared his throat. "Attention, students," said Zelos into an imaginary microphone. "Sex Ed will be taught in the living room today right after breakfast. Attendance is mandatory. No exceptions!"

After breakfast, Raine stayed in the kitchen to clean up. "May I assist?" he asked. "Certainly," said Raine in a slightly seductive tone. He took a dish from her, and set it down as he leaned closer towards her. She leaned towards him as well, pursing her lips. They kissed, and Regal hugged her tightly. _Freeing my hands was the best thing I ever did,_ thought Regal.

Regal and Raine finished cleaning up the kitchen, and then went back to their room. "I've been wondering," said Raine, "about what we're going to do." They sat down next to each other on the bed. Raine closed her eyes as shouts of body parts came from the living room. They ignored it.

"What do you mean?" Regal said. "About what we're going to do here?" Raine nodded. "Weren't we going to try to find a way to go back?" he asked. Raine sighed and rubbed her temples with her eyes closed. "I don't know," she said finally. "The more I think about it, the more I come to think we can't go back. Or at least, shouldn't try. There are so many things that could happen, it's just, well, it's a miracle at all we were okay when the world went back in time. It could have been a lot worse. The gap between Tethe'alla and Sylvarant was no easy feat to cross, and between Earth and Symphonia could be greater."

Regal stroked his chin. "Well, Cruxis had to have made it over somehow," he said. Raine shook her head sadly. "Kratos went immediately to the scene of the crash, and managed to recover some documents before the police arrived," she said as she got up and went over to a desk. She handed a few sheets of paper to Regal. "You're pretty good at math and science, right, Regal?" she asked. "Take a look at these." He stared at them, and paled. "Oh," he said, "oh my." "Indeed," said Raine. "According to the page numbers, they had at least a hundred pages of these formulas. And who knows what some of the variables are? We didn't get the legend, so we have no idea what they even mean. I've scoured these pages, trying to comprehend, but even with this amount of information, I'm certain I would never recreate their work. And there are just so many risks...and we don't know anything about how they even did it. Did they use crafts? Did they use natural phenomena? Did they all sneeze at the same time to create a vortex? Martel knows how they got over here! And, besides, Regal..."

Raine turned and hugged herself. Regal came up beside her and placed his arms around her. "What is it?" he asked. She looked up into his eyes. "I think I speak for all of us when I say, perhaps," she said, "perhaps, we might like it here." Regal was silent. "I can't ever forget Symphonia," said Raine. "I can't forget the pain, the suffering, all the things we've gone through, just to make it the way it is (or will be). And I don't want to abandon it, but...it's becoming clearer that we may have no choice. At the very least, we have gotten stuck on a very interesting planet." Regal smiled at her. "I do like it here," he said. "But if so many of the good leaders are gone from that world, what will happen to it?"

Raine shook her head and smiled. "Regal, Regal, Regal," she said. "We're not the only ones who are fit to help on our world. They still have great leaders. They have hard-workers like Pietro, wise ones like Chief Igaguri and Vice-Chief Tiga, brave leaders like Governor-General Neil, and honest people like George. We may have left our world, but we left it in good hands." Regal was still quiet. "I only hope," he said at last, "is that there are more of those good people than there are bad." Raine cast her gaze downward. "We can but hope," she said. Then she looked up and beamed. "Well, just remember the most important Dwarven Vow!" Regal rolled his eyes and said it with her. "'Justice and love will always win.'" They laughed. "Well, then, I guess we don't have anything to worry about," said Regal. Raine gave him a sly look. "Now, I didn't say that," she said. Regal was unsure of what she meant. "Uh huh," he said. Raine just laughed.

Later on that day, after Zelos had finished his class for the day, Akane arrived to show them to the driver's ed course. "Of course, I can't drive either," she said, "so we'll just have to take the train."

The train was fairly crowded for a Saturday, and the group had to be split up. Genis and Presea, not wanting to be left alone, decided to come along as well. Presea opted to stand rather than sit. She watched with mild interest as buildings and trees flashed by. Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her rear, despite the large "Do NOT Touch Other Passengers" sign. Her eyes went wide with surprise, and then narrowed. Without turning around, she grabbed the hand and wrenched it into an unnatural position. There was a sharp pop, and after that she held it there. She turned around to see a man wincing in pain under Presea's powerful grip. "Touch me again," she said coldly, "and I will personally ensure that you will never touch anything with this hand again. Have I made myself clear?" The man nodded, tears seeping from his closed eyes, and she let him go. The train stopped, and he got off. She turned back around. Everyone stared at her for a moment, then went back to their business.

A minute later, a hand rested gently on her shoulder. "Hey," said a kind girl's voice from behind her. Presea turned. "Ryoko?" she asked, and suddenly realized her mistake. Ryoko Mitsurugi looked surprised. "How do you know who I am?" she asked. Presea faked a smile. "Uh, I've heard of you from some friends," she lied. "My name's Presea." Ryoko smiled. "That's a pretty name," she said. "So, Presea, where is your stop?" Presea ticked off the stops on her fingers. "Um, the next one, actually," she said. "Well, that happens to be our stop as well," said Ryoko. "Please wait for my friends and me. We'd like to talk with you."

At the stop, Presea got off and waited with her friends for Ryoko. Ryoko showed up seconds later with her gang. "Are these your friends, Presea?" asked Ryoko. Presea nodded. "Well, I wanted to make an offer that I think you might like," Ryoko said. "We were looking for additional members to our group, and I think you may have what it takes." Presea shook her head sadly. "I-I'm sorry, but, I just can't make the commitment," said Presea. "I can't let my friends down."

Ryoko smiled. "That's always most important," she said. "If that's what it would mean, then, you don't have to join. Still, I think we could all be good friends. Oh!" she exclaimed, sticking out her tongue. "Where are my manners?" she said. "Let me introduce my friends. This is-" "Asuka," said Kratos, "Xiaoxing, Midori, Megumi, and Aoi. Right?" Ryoko was stunned. "You all know us?" she asked, puzzled. Raine wrote something on a piece of paper. "There's a lot between us you don't know about," Raine said, handing Ryoko the paper she had written on. "We have to go now, but if you're interested, come to this address tonight at seven. See you then."

Ryoko waved goodbye, still a little numb and confused. "What do you say, girls?" she asked her friends. Xiaoxing bounced up and down. "We go, we go, we go we oughta!" she said. "I want to know what is our relationship." "Me too!" said Asuka. "Sounds interesting," said Megumi. "I am interested," said Aoi. "Well, it would be a welcome break from fighting everyone Saturday night," said Midori. "Then it's settled!" said Ryoko. "We'll go, and we'll find out what their story really is!"

"Don't tell me we have to tell them too!" wailed Lloyd. Raine smacked him hard. Her eyes sparkled. "How could you say something like that!" she said. She clasped her hands in front of her. "Oh, I never tire of giving that lesson!" No one said anything, but they were all thinking the same thing, and it wasn't entirely nice.

The doorbell rang at exactly seven o'clock. "Punctual, as I thought," said Raine, and stuck out her hand in front of Zelos while Presea went to get the door. Glumly, he forked over the two thousand yen he owed her. Presea returned, followed by the Shinsengumi, as well as two men and another girl. One they knew; he was Shizuma Kusanagi. The other one had an Elvis-style haircut, and him they had never seen before. The girl had long brown hair and large glasses. She was a new face as well.

Ryoko raised her hand in greeting. "Hey," she said. "Um, we brought some guests along. I hope you don't mind?" Zelos beamed at Raine, who sighed and handed back the two thousand. Regal watched the two exchanges and wondered what caused the two bets in the first place. How many more bets, he wanted to know, would be decided tonight?

"No, we don't mind at all," said Raine, who was cheerful on the outside, but Regal could tell she was more than a little irritated at this change in plans. Megumi motioned to the headband guy. "This is-" she began. "Shizuma Kusanagi, so good to see you again," said Lloyd as he shook his hand. Shizuma grinned at the girls and shoved a finger in Ryoko's face. "See!" he exclaimed. "I told you I'm famous!" "Oh, I'm sorry, but you're not," said Lloyd. Shizuma looked crushed. Ryoko looked like she had just won a battle.

"Yes, we know everyone here," said Presea, "except for you two." She gazed up at the tall greaser dude. "Eh?" he said. "Oh, um, yeah, hey, I'm Taiho. Pleased t'meetcha." He extended a hand to the petite girl, who took it and smiled. "The pleasure is all mine," she replied. Taiho couldn't help but crack a grin at her manners. He shook hands with everyone else, one by one, and they all introduced themselves through small winces while he unknowingly crushed their hands. Lloyd nudged Sheena. "That guy is seriously strong," he whispered. Sheena was sucking on her fingers. "You think?" she said. "I'm Hitomi," said the unfamiliar girl shyly. She waved and they waved back. No one could take another handshake.

Colette clapped her hands together and regretted it immediately, but her face didn't change. "Well!" she said. "I know you all have a lot of questions, but, uh, first we're gonna have dinner. Okay?" Taiho's smile broadened. "Good idea!" he said. "I'm starved!" Megumi scratched her head with her finger. "Uh, just don't eat too much, please?" she said. Eyeing Kusanagi and Taiho, she added, "That goes for the both of you." They looked disappointed, but, not desiring to get in a fight with her, of all people, they reluctantly agreed they would leave some for the others.

They all sat around a long, wide table, set with wine glasses and fine plates. With a few adjustments, everyone was seated, and Raine and Colette served steak, baked potatoes, and Caesar salad. "So, Taiho," said Lloyd, "what's your relationship to these lovely ladies?" "Boyfriend," answered Shizuma immediately from behind a glass. Instead of looking at Shizuma, they all turned to Taiho. "Is that true?" asked Ryoko. Taiho looked embarrassed and he rubbed the back of his head. "Well," he said, "we weren't planning on telling anyone just yet, but..." "We've been dating for a while now," finished Megumi. "Really!" said Xiaoxing. "For how long?" "Um, since the K-Fight at Dragon Land?" she said. Taiho chuckled. "I told her not to fall in love with me," he said. "But he was too late," Megumi said. She hugged him lovingly. "Aww, that's so sweet!" said Colette. Ryoko smiled, and stared off into space, lost in thought.

However, she didn't notice she was staring at Megumi. "Hey, Ryoko? You okay?" Ryoko shook her thoughts, and came back to the real world. Megumi was looking at her concernedly. "Yes," said Ryoko with a sigh. "Just thinking. About how life isn't just about fighting, you know?" Megumi nodded. She did know. Fighting was core to her life. But core doesn't mean all. She'd realized that, and once she had she found she had a longing, a desire to be wanted, and not just by friends and fans and career scouts. She wanted a man. She wanted love. And she'd found it.

Megumi said nothing, but she made a mental note to talk to Ryoko about it later. Around the dinner table, Presea and her friends seemed to be telling their story. Though Megumi was worried about her captain, she dared not pass this up. While she listened, an odd yet familiar feeling tickled the back of her neck. It was silly, she knew, but it felt like she was being watched. You're only sitting at a table eating dinner, Megu dear, she thought to herself. Of course someone's bound to be watching you.

The Arbiter noted with interest as he watched the proceedings from the second floor balcony that the one called Megumi was the only one who seemed to notice his presence. It was strange, he thought, that Asuka, the one trained to be perceptive, did not feel him at all. Perhaps her interest in the talk holds all her attention. Well, at least it means she's focused. He smiled and shook his head, then quietly returned to his room. He shut the door with naught but a soft click. He sighed and rested his elbows on the windowsill as he stared out into the night. A cool breeze caressed his face and made the curtains sway. The Arbiter frowned. Something was preoccupying his mind, but it was difficult to say what. An unknown presence, a feeling of wrongness, perhaps, but he could not guess what the cause of it would be.

Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind, and closed his eyes. Then he let his senses float free, expanding to fill the city. _Where is the disturbance? _he asked himself. _And what is it?_ Then he felt it, a creature not belonging to this world, and it was neither himself nor his newfound friends. It was on the other side of town. Abruptly, its presence vanished, snuffed as quickly as a candle. The Arbiter gathered his perceptions and returned to his body. He opened his eyes.

This event disturbed him a bit. Someone had known of he creature, and killed it. He wondered what it was, and who had known, and why. But that creature was definitely what had caught his mind; his head felt clear again, and he could focus. But perhaps what piqued his curiosity the most was the fact that the alien had not gradually come closer, but instead had rather seemingly appeared out of nowhere. If there was a next time, he promised himself, he would try harder to pinpoint the creature. If someone knew of his arrival, it could be dangerous, and therefore should investigate. And even if it had nothing to do with him...he smiled. He would investigate anyway.

After dinner, they all sat around in a circle of furniture and continued their talk long into the night. At one point, Ryoko got up to go get some fresh air, or so she claimed. Megumi took the chance and followed her.

It was a cool night, and Megumi wrapped her jacket around herself tighter. She came up behind Ryoko and laid her hand on her captain's shoulder. "Hey," Megumi said softly. "Are you okay?" Ryoko nodded, her eyes clearly showing she was not. "Yes," she said. Megumi glanced at the ground. She knew she was lying, but did not know what to say. "You know you can tell me anything," she said at last, looking in Ryoko's eyes. "You have to believe that." Ryoko wavered, and finally she sighed and sat down on a decorative rock. "Well, I guess I was still thinking about what you said," Ryoko said. "And I began to wonder if my fighting has meaning." Megumi sat down next to her.

"Of course it does!" she said. "You're admired and respected because you fight. And you keep the city a safe place. Your fighting does have meaning. However," her tone got quiet, and serious, "fighting cannot occupy your whole life. There are more things for you to do in it than fight. That's- that's what I realized. You know I will always be there for you, don't you?" Ryoko nodded, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "Then there's no need to worry," said Megumi with a smile. "The girls and I won't let you fall. We're here for you, twenty-four seven. Don't ever forget it." Ryoko's lip trembled. Megumi offered herself and Ryoko sank gratefully into her arms. There they sat and cried, until they had no more tears left.

Ryoko exhaled a long breath and wiped her eyes. "Thanks, Megu," she said. "I needed that. It's funny, you know. I used to think crying was weak. But now, because of you guys, you and Hitomi, I feel like I can reach those feelings. Its amazing how much good they can do." Megumi nodded. "You just can't hold them back forever," she said. "You keep 'em inside and take them out when they won't stay. Kinda like owning a pet that doesn't die." Ryoko laughed. There was a koi pond nearby and they looked into it. "Ugh," said Megumi. "We look like hell," said Ryoko. Megumi shook her purse. "Well, I've got a few things in here," she said. "Not much, but it'll do."

Five minutes later, they were ready to go in. They stood up and stretched. "Ready?" asked Megumi. Ryoko nodded. Suddenly something rustled loudly in a nearby hedge. "Cat?" suggested Megumi. But what leapt out of the bushes at them was no cat. Everything happened so fast, neither of them got a good look at it. First it flew out of the bushes, and Ryoko got an impression of a four-legged spider. Then there was a flash of blue as something passed in front of the girls and sliced the thing in two. They flinched, and when nothing happened, they peeked out from behind their arms.

The first thing they saw was the creature, a crablike thing, lying in two on the ground. The second thing they saw was a glowing blue sword with two blades sticking out in front, parallel to each other. The third thing they saw was the wielder of the sword, a seven-foot tall alien. They gaped at one thing to another so fast it looked like they were watching a hockey game. The alien sighed, and did something with his hand. The sword disappeared, and the alien hung a small tube on his belt. He stooped down and picked up the two pieces of the creature. He started for the house, when he seemed to notice the girls for the first time. They stared at him, their mouths suddenly remembering to shut. "Come," he said in a deep, pleasant voice. "There is much to discuss."

No sooner had he begun to walk again than a voice came from behind all three of them. "Hey," it said. They all turned at once. A man in horn-rimmed glasses and some sort of hazardous environment suit held a shotgun at an angle. He looked at the dead crab. "That's mine," he said shortly. The alien harrumphed. "And what makes it yours?" he asked. The man seemed unsurprised that the alien spoke perfect English. Rather, he seemed more irritated that the alien refused to give the dead thing to him. However, the man couldn't seem to come up with a reply to that, so he said again, "It's mine." "Then you may have it," said the alien, "when we are done with it." The alien turned around and began to walk towards the house. The man suddenly aimed the gun at the alien and pumped it. "I can't allow that," he said.

The alien turned around slowly. He transferred one half of the carcass to his other hand, and extended his free hand towards the man. "And I can't allow that," he said. The man's finger tensed on the trigger, when suddenly it flew out of his hand into the alien's. "I told you that you may have it later," he said. A thought seemed to come into the alien's head. "Why don't you come and tell us what you know about this, hmm?" The man seemed to be contemplating this. "Fine," he said. He followed them into the house. Ryoko and Megumi wondered how much wine they'd had.

Ryoko opened the door and came in, followed by Megumi. "Hey, guys, what's-" began Taiho. Just then the Arbiter walked in the door, followed by a very disgruntled man in a very high-tech looking suit. "Arbiter!" exclaimed Presea. "I thought you said you weren't going to come out until later!" "You know it?" asked Shizuma. "Yes, we know him," said Kratos. "However, it was not intended for him to show himself. What is the reason for this?" The Arbiter held up the bisected creature. "This is the reason for this," he said. "It nearly made a meal of this woman's face. I could not allow that to happen." The man behind the Arbiter tapped him on the shoulder. "I could have dealt with it," he said. The Arbiter made a contemptuous sniff. "With this?" he said, showing him the shotgun. "Do not take me for a fool. I know of how your weapons operate. This one fires a barrage of small pellets. They would have dispersed and you could have hit her as well as this creature from the distance you were standing." The man was silent, knowing the alien had made a valid point. "When can I have it?" he asked.

The Arbiter examined the crab again. Suddenly his head snapped up and he stared intently at the man. "You know of the Combine, do you not?" the Arbiter asked. The man nodded. "Yeah," he said warily. "So?" The Arbiter's eyes narrowed. "You do not work for them, do you?" he asked, a threatening tone edging his voice. "Humph," said the man. "I fight the Combine." The Arbiter looked at him curiously. "What is your name?" he asked. "Freeman," replied the man. "Gordon Freeman." The Arbiter seemed satisfied. "Then, Gordon, I will give you your specimen," he said. "I commend your work. And do tell your employer that I wish to speak to him soon. He will know how to contact me." Gordon's eyes widened. "You know him?" he asked incredulously. The Arbiter glanced down. He looked sad, almost wistful. "I know more than you can imagine," he whispered. The tone of his voice filled Gordon with awe. Silently, he handed Gordon the two halves of the crab and his shotgun. Gordon took them, equally silent. Then Gordon backed out of the door, and shut it.

The Arbiter glanced around the room at the disbelieving faces. "I am...sorry...for the interruption," he said. With that he turned and went upstairs to his room. Downstairs, he heard the humans talk quietly amongst themselves. He ignored them, and went to the window. Staring up at the stars, he tried to find his home star, but could not. It was too bright in the city. He sighed. He knew no one could ever really understand him. But, he knew, some would do their best to try. And that made him smile.

There came a soft knock at the Arbiter's door a couple of hours later. "Come in," he said. Presea entered the room, closing the door softly behind her and locking it. She wore her silk nightgown. "Are you all right?" she asked, her face full of concern and worry. "I don't know the answer to that question," he replied. "Physically, mentally, I am sound. But my spirit is troubled." Presea crossed the room and sat down on the bed where the Arbiter sat with outstretched legs. "What is troubling you?" she asked, looking up into his small but keen eyes. "It is a number of things," he said. "I suppose one could clump it together and call it loneliness. But I experience it on a few levels. I am separated from my people, I am separated from my culture, but I am also separated from any sort of peer. My intellect is, well, untouchable, you might say. My Prophets call it a blessing, but when you are so alone like I am now, it seems more a curse." He sighed. Presea felt saddened. "I'm sorry," she said, "but I can't really understand what it's like."

"Do you want to?" said the Arbiter suddenly, his head snapping up. "I could transfer my raw emotion to you, if you wanted. However, it does require another intimate contact, but even more so than before. Nothing sexual, however, I can assure you." Presea nodded. "If it would help me understand," she said. "Then disrobe," he said. Quickly, he removed his armor and his underclothes, while Presea took off her gown. "Come into the center of the room," he instructed her. The Arbiter was staying in a sort of rec room, and the center was quite large, an empty space of about ten by ten feet. "We must, well," he said, and paused. He groped for the right word. "Perhaps...embrace, or hug," he said finally. He put his arms under Presea's arms and lifted her into his chest. "Latch on to me so that if I were to let go you would not fall," he said to her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him tightly. "Good," he said. Then he placed his arms around her, and bent his head down into his chest so it rested on Presea's head. "This time there will be no physical discomfort," he said. "Only emotional."

With that, he told her to shut her eyes, and they both closed their lids. The Arbiter began to chant slowly and softly in his own language. Presea thought it was rather beautiful. The Arbiter interrupted himself only once, to say, "If you want, go to sleep. It may help." He did not break his pace or tone, and then continued chanting. Presea could not help but drift off to his deep, melodious tone. Instantly she came into a vivid dream, so real she thought she had woken up. In her dream, she was holding a small child in her arms while she spoke reassuringly to it. In a few seconds it dawned on her that she was in the body of the Arbiter. Memories flowed into her, and along with them came a hollow, empty spot, an aching in her heart. It made her want to weep, to cry a river that never ran dry, and to crawl into a corner to hide. Then she felt a warm, fuzzy feeling begin to fill that cavernous void. She realized it was coming from the girl.

Then everything grew dim, and the dream faded into darkness. Presea woke, but did not open her eyes. She felt the arms of the Arbiter around her, and she waited for him to give her a signal. She had a falling sensation, and then there was a soft thud as the Arbiter's hooves hit the ground. "You may open your eyes now," he said. She opened them, and looked around. "Uh, were we just floating?" she asked. The Arbiter laughed. "Yes, that is an occasional side effect," he said. They released each other and sat own on the bed. She stared into to space for a while, then turned to the Arbiter. "Did that really happen?" she asked. The Arbiter looked uncertain. "Yes and no," he said at last. "It is difficult to explain, but suffice it to say that for a moment, part of your mind was in mine, and vice versa." She nodded. "Believe it or not," she said, "I've felt almost exactly the same way. Though your depression was stronger than mine, I've felt similar. And that warm feeling? That came from my friends." A thought came across her. "Is that what I do for you?" she asked in wonder. "It is indeed," replied the Arbiter.

For a while they sat in silence. Then the Arbiter said, "The Prophets gave me other gifts, as well, you know." Presea turned to him, shaken out of her thoughts. "Like what?" she asked. The Arbiter nodded at a book on a desk across the room. "Watch," he said. He extended his hand, and the book flew from the table into it. "Whoa!" said Presea. "There are other things I can do like that," he said. "The Prophets call it the Holy Force. You have heard of this Earth movie, Star Wars, perhaps?" She nodded. "It's something like that, though not so fundamentally important to the universe. It's more of a side effect of matter, not the essence. But it still works similarly. This Lucas person was not far off from the truth." Presea nodded slowly. "Could you teach me?" she asked. The Arbiter frowned. "Perhaps," he said cautiously. "I'm not sure if it will work on a human. I'm not sure it even works with all of the Covenant. But I could try. It is hard work and requires devotion," he warned. "How does every day, five to seven A.M, sound?" Presea smiled. "Sounds like a deal," she said.

Presea checked a clock on the wall. "Well, it's getting late," she said. "Perhaps I should go." The Arbiter fidgeted. "Yes," he said uneasily. "What's wrong?" she asked him, sensing his obvious discomfort. He glanced around, as if someone might have been watching. "Well," he said, "it is a somewhat personal matter of yours I have discovered based on our experience and observation. I will require further examination to confirm it, but, well." Presea was confused. "What do you mean?" she asked. The Arbiter sighed and spread his arms. "To put it bluntly, you have an infection." Presea raised an eyebrow. "On the inside of your left thigh, near your, ah, well, you know. You have a wound there. May I?" he asked, indicating her leg. Presea shrugged. "Sure, I guess..."

The Arbiter, using some sort of probe and a handheld light, examined her leg. He peered closely at it, then drew back, and muttered in his own language. For some reason it sounded oddly familiar. Then he leaned in again and examined it again, turning his head this way and that. Finally he stroked the cut with a finger and sniffed it, for what reason Presea could not begin to fathom. He wiped off his finger and stood up.

He went over to the desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a box and rummaged through it. "Here we are," he said. He brought to her two objects, both in alien language. "Take this one," he said, shaking the left red bottle, "orally, once a day. Apply this one," he said shaking the right blue tube, "twice a day to the affected area. It should disappear in a week. When your symptoms are gone, follow my directions for two more days, and you'll be cured." "Thank you," said Presea. "Um, uh, yeah. Thanks."

She put on her nightgown and stood up. "I apologize if I have offended you," he said. Presea smiled. "Not at all," she said. "There is no problem. As long as this is confidential." The Arbiter made a complicated sign with his hands over his face and chest. "It is the Covenant seal of blood," he said. "Should I break my vow, you get to do what you will to me." Presea laughed. "I don't think it'll come to that," she said, and left.

During the night, a cold norther blew in from Siberia and mixed with Japan's high humidity. Much of the main island was blanketed by several feet of snow, and the Tokyo area was no exception.

"HEY EVERYBODY WAKE UP!" came the yell the next morning. Lloyd skidded down the hallway and knocked on the doors loudly. "It snowed last night!" he exclaimed. Older visages were disgruntled, but were brightened somewhat by the glee on the youths' faces. Lloyd slid happily down the banister to the first floor and landed face first on the floor. The others followed, yawning, to get their day started. Kratos opened a window in the kitchen while Genis got out pans to cook breakfast. Kratos took a deep breath of the bracingly chilled air. He smiled.

"I think today will have to be fun," he announced. "Like how?" said Sheena, taken a bit aback by Kratos' unusual statement. Kratos smelled the air again. "Shopping," he said. He took another breath. "And barbecue," he added. "Sounds good to me!" declared Zelos. "But what about the Arbiter?" asked Presea. Raine clucked her tongue. "Yes, what to do about him," she said thoughtfully. "I think a good disguise would fix him up pretty well." The Arbiter was doubtful. "If you say so," he said with a shrug.

She did say so. As she predicted, a long trench coat and a low hat hid his features well. "Try not to talk," Raine warned. His four mouthpieces might cause a commotion.

They set out for the shopping district. The first item of business was clothes. None of them had any clothes besides what they usually wore, and they were getting tired of their old styles. A rather flamboyant man asked them how they wanted to look. The adults chose more dignified clothing; Raine chose a long, dark gray skirt and black sweater combination, Regal got a casual jean and polo shirt, Kratos took a black comfortable suit and a dark red button-up shirt left untucked, Yuan opted for blue jeans and a green button-up, also untucked, and Zelos went with a black suit and a white, black striped shirt, which he left untucked but covered it with a buttoned jacket. Even though it was quite dark outside, he couldn't resist wearing sunglasses. Botta went along and got a deep blue suit and a lighter blue shirt. He tucked in his shirt and buttoned his jacket.

The young ones were a different story. Lloyd and Genis took to the skater style and picked out loose jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, skate shoes, and wristbands for themselves. Colette decided to go along with them for some reason. Presea also followed suit and got a medium length black skirt, dark stockings, a pink shirt, and a black, 20's style driving cap.

Sheena, was, well, somewhere in between the two. She took jeans and a dark pink button-up shirt, but she left it untucked, unbuttoned the top two buttons and the cuffs, and wore a white shirt underneath. Sheena let her hair down and sported a metal watch attached to a brown, wider leather band. The others saw the watch and decided they all wanted one too. After asking Lloyd about his wallet chain, everyone decided they wanted a wallet, too.

While none of them took very heavy coats, they all made sure to wear at least one undershirt, because even going between buildings was torture. As they walked along a sidewalk, heading for a cell phone store, they passed a bookstore. Hung in the window was a calendar with a very attractive man on it. Zelos took off his sunglasses and peered at it. "Well, it looks like I may have some competition," he said. "Orlando Bloom, huh?" Then Zelos noticed what Orlando was wearing. "Dammit!" he yelled. Everyone looked at him. "Everyone's gonna think I stole his style. Aw man..." Colette took his arm. "You can still wear it," she said. "I think it looks really nice on you." "Thanks, babe!" said Zelos.

"Oohh, but what a hunk Orlando is!" said Sheena. "Mmm, sexy..." "He is quite attractive, I must admit," said Presea. "So handsome," said Raine. The women ogled the dashing man for a long time, until their men got nervous and stole them back. "Don't be jealous, guys," said Sheena. "I think he's a celebrity, so he's out of our reach. We still love you guys, don't we girls?" "Yes!" they all said, and kissed their boyfriends on the cheek. It was convincing enough for them.


	2. Chapter 2

After convincing a dubious salesman they were all family, the group purchased phones and decided to visit an anime store, wondering what in the world anime was. "This is awesome!" said Lloyd. "It gives me indescribable feelings," said Presea, feeling a bizarre shiver run down her back as she stared at a box for an anime DVD set. A woman angel was hugging a human woman, and their eyes were closed. Everything looked slightly white and blurred. It was sort of like the warm fuzzies, only it was a hell of a lot stranger and more confusing.

Raine stared fixatedly at a television. She was amazed devices like these could be so readily available. Then she turned her attention to the video on the screen. "Oh my!" she said, placing a hand over her mouth in surprise as a quite graphic scene was portrayed. A deep chuckle came from behind her. She turned to find the Arbiter watching the same show with amusement. "I don't know how you can find that funny!" she said. "Do you not see the humor in it?" he replied. "They're having sex, for crying out loud!" she exclaimed. "Yes," said the Arbiter, "but that fact is exactly why it is funny." Raine was puzzled. "This is way too graphic for children to be watching," she said.

"Hey lady," said a voice to her left. She turned to see a heavy white man with a goatee and dark, long curly hair looking at her. "Dude, I know you've got a point," he said, "but so does Deep Voice over here. Don't knock it until you understand it. Hey, you know, I've got an idea." He reached underneath the counter, and searched for a moment until he found what he wanted. "You read English, right?" he said. She nodded. "Well, take this book," he said, coming over and handing her a thick paperback book. On the front were the large words "Anime Explosion!". "This book explains everything about anime," he said, "from the basic themes to the minor details. No charge for it, as long as you promise me you'll read it. Maybe then you'll appreciate my chosen form of entertainment. We cool?" Raine looked curiously at the book. She _did_ want to learn more about this country, and it sounded interesting...

"It's a deal," she said. The man smiled. "Cool," he said. "Come back sometime, and ask for Hurley, and maybe we can talk, and I might be able to get you some discounts or maybe even some free stuff." A bell rang, and Hurley looked at his register. A Japanese man stood there with a stack of graphic novels. "Uh-oh, customers. Gotta go!" With that Hurley rushed off to tend to the young man who was waiting. Raine looked the book over. There was probably no better way to learn about a country, she thought, than through its popular culture. Happy with this turn of events, she opened the book and began to read.

After a long day of shopping, the tired group somehow wound up at a Dave and Buster's. It was now half past ten, and most of them were now seated at the quiet, dimly lit bar area. Only Lloyd and Zelos were up, shooting a game of pool. Regal watched absently as Lloyd systematically destroyed his elder compatriot at Zelos' chosen game. Regal laughed softly to himself at Zelos' frustration. Regal finished the last bite of his hamburger and washed it down with a bit of his amber-gold lager.

He sighed and looked down the bar. Raine sat next to him, leisurely reading the book she had been given. Colette sat slumped in her chair, asleep. Genis and Presea were sitting still, holding hands and looking straight ahead with weary, half-shut eyes. Sheena was resting her head and arms on the bar, staring at the labels on the beer bottles. Kratos, Yuan, and Botta were discussing something at the end of the bar. Even they looked ready to drop off, and Regal didn't think he had ever seen Kratos look tired. But now his eyes were red, and he looked as though he longed for a soft bed at the end of his road.

Regal wondered again what the Arbiter was up to. He had left a few hours earlier, saying he felt uncomfortable in the shop they were in, and would rather just wait at home. Well, it was his own business, and it was not Regal's to pry.

He sighed again and went over to the pool tables. Lloyd had just finished off Zelos when their tall friend came over. "I think it's time we went home," he whispered. "Everyone is tired from today, and I think we could all use a good night's sleep." Lloyd and Zelos nodded. "Let's go then," Lloyd said. The three men returned to the table. Regal left a good-sized tip to their friendly and patient bartender, who gratefully accepted the money. "Thank you, and have a good night," she said with a small bow. All those seated rose, except for Colette. Zelos picked her up and gently laid her against his shoulder. They all walked out of the restaurant and into the cold. Shivering, they stuck their hands into their pockets. Zelos drew up Colette's hood over her head.

Regal caught them a taxi van, and they piled in and went home. Raine paid the driver as her friends stumbled up the snowy walk to their house. Kratos unlocked and opened the door to their house. They stepped in, sighing as the warm air soothed their icy cheeks. Raine turned on a light to find the Arbiter sitting in a chair, consulting a thin palm computer. There was baggage at his feet. He looked up at them, and put down the computer. Rising, he sighed. "Everyone," he said, "I am sorry, but I am afraid I must leave. I can't tell you where I am going, or what I will be doing. All you must know is that it will help me achieve my goals. I thank you deeply for your understanding and hospitality. Rest assured I will visit regularly, at least once every two weeks. I promise."

He picked up his bags and headed for the door. He stopped short of the door when he felt a tug at his hand. The Arbiter turned to see Presea holding his hand. "Goodbye," she whispered through tears. His eyes softened, and he dropped his luggage and bent down to give her a hug. "My dear Presea," he whispered back, "I am going to miss you most of all. You have helped me in such profound ways...I-I will never lose sight of what you have taught me. I look forward to my visits." He released her, and he wiped a tear from her eyes. "I have something for you," he said. He reached into a pocket of one of his suitcases and produced two items. One was a short, thin metal cylinder, and the other was a pale violet gem set in a beautifully wrought, silvery metal, attached to a chain of the same metal.

Giving her the tube he said, "This is an energy sword. Press the switch, give it a shake, and it will alight. Use it, use violence, when no other solution is possible. And this," he said, slipping the pendant over her head, "is the Arbiter's Stone. I can't tell you how to use it; you have to figure it out for yourself, or it will do no good. All I can tell you is this, the words passed down from ancient times regarding this relic: _In darkness it blazes forth, in uncertainty it becomes resolute, in confusion it makes clear. _It is said that you have become truly wise when you need not use it. On my world, no one is allowed to do anything of profound importance for the Prophets until they no longer need their stone. I hope it helps you on your journey through life."

With that the Arbiter stood, picked up his things, and went out the door. "I left some things for the rest of you in the kitchen," he said as he walked away. "I hope they are sufficient to repay the kindness you have shown me." Then the Arbiter disappeared, and Raine shut the door. Presea wandered over to the sofa where the Arbiter had been sitting and sat down. The shock of the Arbiter leaving made her less emotional than she would have thought. Tears trickled down her face, but she did not burst out crying as she had expected. Instead, she felt an empty spot in her heart, and a lump in her throat.

No one said anything for a long while. Then everyone but Genis and Presea left for their own rooms. Genis sat next to Presea, unsure of what to say. She was as speechless as Genis and the others were. She suddenly became aware of a dark spot on the floor. She touched it, and a purplish blue substance came away. She stared at her finger. "What is that?" asked Genis. Presea shrugged. She smelled it; it had only a faint, yet somehow familiar, odor. She hesitantly tasted it, and immediately recognized it. It was the metallic taste of blood. "The Arbiter was bleeding," she said. Genis had nothing to say. He sat, wondering what to do.

Fortunately, Presea provided the answer. "Hold me, Genis," she said, throwing herself onto him. He lowered his arms around her and rubbed her back while she cried into his jacket. He sighed, and began to cry himself.

Upstairs, Zelos laid Colette down gently into bed, and tiredly threw off his coat. He sat down in a chair to sleep, not wanting to disturb his beloved. "Zelos?" came a quiet voice from the bed. He stood up and walked over. She looked up at him sleepily. "What is it?" he asked. "Please sleep in the bed with me," she said. "I don't want to be alone tonight." Zelos smiled and climbed in after kicking off his shoes. Colette laid her arms around him, and he placed one arm over her shoulder. "Thank you," she said, and closed her eyes. Zelos yawned, and as he closed his eyes and began to drift off into a peaceful sleep, he thought that it was nice that lovers could sleep in the same bed without having to sleep together. His checkered past behind him, he smiled and went to sleep with his one true love.

Lloyd woke suddenly. For a moment he could not figure out what had caused his waking. He looked and saw Sheena was not in the bed with him. Disturbed, he got up quickly and threw on a robe. Lloyd raced out into the hallway, checking both ways before heading to the stairs. As he bounded down them, he saw everyone in the living room, and heard muffled sobs.

He came up behind Sheena and tapped her on the shoulder. "What's going on?" he whispered. Sheena shrugged and pointed to the couch. Genis sat there cradling a very upset Presea. She clutched him tightly and wailed into his shoulder. Genis looked compassionate, yet puzzled. "We're trying to figure that out now," Sheena whispered.

"What's wrong?" asked Genis of his beloved. "What's wrong?" Presea looked up, and coughed. "I-I'm not sure," she managed to say. "It was so real I, I, I was terrified, and it was _so _awful!" The memory of whatever it was seemed to make her sick, and she paled. She swallowed hard, fighting the urge to vomit in terror, or horror, or whatever it was that caused her to feel so nauseated. "What was awful?" asked Genis, stroking her hair reassuringly. Presea coughed again, and regained her composure a bit.

"Th-there was this place," she said, a faraway look in her eyes, "and it was so beautiful. There were silver trees, with golden leaves, and when they drifted slowly down in the red light of evening, it looked wonderful. And then, and then something came. I can't even describe it. It was like red and black at the same time, just a shadow, like it was Evil itself. It tore down the trees, and the day turned into black night lit by fire. It made scary monsters like men with wings and red eyes, and when they smiled they looked like, oh goddess,"(here she shuddered and tears flowed from her shut eyes). "Oh, they were hideous. And they would do horrible things. They would find pretty creatures and torture them. Then they would butcher them, piece by piece and eat them alive and all sorts of horrible stuff. And there was blood everywhere, an ocean of it, and it smelled like all the bad smells in the world combined, like death and decay. Then the evil men took me, and I was in a circle of them, and they all smiled that horrible smile. They, they laughed at me while they tortured me. And then..." She paused a moment, her eyes still closed, tears still dripping. Everyone was entranced by her story, and none dared to turn away.

She opened her eyes, and she stared straight forward, eyes blank, expressionless. Everyone leaned in closer. "And then I was with _him_," she whispered finally. "Who?" asked Genis. Presea did not move or speak for a long time. Then her head turned to Genis, her eyes still blank, staring. "I-I don't know," she said in a scared voice. "But he was pure evil. I was all alone in pitch blackness, naked and nearly dead from so many bad wounds. And then I was aware of someone there. He was huge, unbelievably huge. It was as if he was the universe, so immense you can't even begin to fathom how big he was. Then there were two eyes, solid red, glaring at me from the darkness. Then a person stepped forward and I could see him."

Her eyes stared straight at Genis, but she was not looking at him. She looked through him, her eyes lost in space, her mouth open slightly. "Who was he?" whispered Genis. Presea seemed to notice Genis for the first time. "It was the Arbiter," she whispered. "What does it mean?"

No one had an answer for her.

They stood in silence, slightly disturbed by what they had heard. Abruptly, Presea headed upstairs and locked herself in her room. The others quietly dispersed, and quickly shook off the feelings of dread. They ate together in the kitchen. Genis wondered about Presea, and decided to give it time. She would tell them more if it was necessary.

Up in her room, Presea sat quietly on her bed, fingering the pendant around her throat. She knew not which way to go, and she figured now would be the time to use her gift. Only she did not know how. She sighed and closed her eyes. "What does my dream mean?" she whispered to the rock. She pressed it against her head, hoping something would come through. Nothing.

Presea sighed and lowered it. She felt it some more, and noticed something on the back. She turned it over to see a hole in the metal that allowed light to pass through the jewel. Maybe...

Taking a small flashlight, she turned off the lights in her room and pointed the flashlight at the back of the jewel. She clicked it on. The beam of light refracted inside the crystal and came out to the left. She looked at where it went. The beam of light shone on an open dictionary Genis had left on the dresser in their room. It illuminated the word "arbiter" on the page. She lowered the flashlight, puzzled. "What about the Arbiter?" she asked, and raised the flashlight again.

This time it bent to the left again and highlighted the sample phrase for the word 'ask'. It said, "Why don't you ask him a question?" Presea laughed, amazed at the little rock. She, of course, would ask the Arbiter.

A tense two and a half weeks passed before the Arbiter returned. Nothing of any interest occurred, save Raine becoming an anime addict. Presea often would sit and look at the stone, or hold the sword, but for some reason she never turned it on.

The first thing the Arbiter said when he walked in the door was, "Where's Presea?" It was an expected question at an unexpected time, for he walked in while Zelos was in the middle of his 'class'. "Hey, Arbiter!" said Zelos, waving cheerfully and smiling at his buddy. "I've got Presea for ten more minutes until my class is done. Then you can have her. Maybe she can help you on what you missed."

The Arbiter made a gesture, equivalent to a human rolling his eyes. It was a fascinating subject, no doubt, but he had more important things to worry about, and he was dying to talk to his friend. He greeted the others warmly, talked for a while, until Presea came up and hugged his leg. "Arbiter!" she cried happily. He picked her up with a laugh and squeezed her tightly. Then he set her down. Suddenly Presea's eyes became serious. "Did you send it?" she asked. "Did you get it?" replied the Arbiter. The others were confused. "Let's talk somewhere else," suggested Presea.

They went into Presea's and Genis' room and locked the door. "So it was you," said Presea. The Arbiter nodded. "What did you see?" he asked, obviously curious. She described her dream to him. He stroked his neck, which was similar to a human rubbing of the chin. "Why did you send me that?" asked Presea, feeling a little hurt. The Arbiter was staring out the window, and he shifted his eyes to her without moving his head. "I had no idea how it would turn out, you must realize," he said. "What?" asked Presea, confused. The Arbiter sighed. "I got to feeling quite pained after I left, for I could not stop thinking about my people," he said. "So what I did was, using the connection we established earlier, sent a transmission of my feelings. Since it was so long-distance, as I was quite far away, the only way I could do it was to channel it into a dream, because they are easiest to transmit. The first time we connected, when I showed you those memories, I used a similar method, because I wanted to make sure I could get through clearly. Once you had your first experience, I felt confident giving you higher forms of communication transfers."

Presea nodded slowly, absorbing what he had said. "So why did it come out like that?" she asked. The Arbiter shrugged, a habit he apparently picked up on Earth. "When I converted my feelings into direct dream," he explained, "I had no way of knowing what would cause you to feel the way I was. So I couldn't really conjure up a dream, and instead let _your_ brain do it for you." "Ah," said Presea. She understood now. The Arbiter sighed and stood up. "I have an, uh, experience to give you, if you're interested," he said. Presea didn't like the uncertainty in his voice. She trusted him and wanted to help, but..."What is it?" she asked cautiously. The Arbiter drew a deep breath and let it out. "Physical pain," he said. "I would share with you the physical pain I've gone through so that you may know what I've had to deal with. It will definitely strengthen you and reduce pain inflicted on you in the future, since your brain is actually taking it, but granted it will be quite...intense." Sucking in a breath between her teeth, she nodded.

"I have been hurt in many places," he said. "This requires another full body contact, so, if you will..." They once again removed their clothes, and latched on to one another. Then they stood in the center of the room again, and they closed their eyes. The Arbiter placed one hand on her forehead. "Please forgive me," he whispered. "It will hurt."

With that he stopped talking and concentrated. Presea's heart thumped, awaiting the pain. Suddenly her body was devoid of feeling, and then it began. At first it was a few pricks on her fingers, but then she felt cuts and bruises on her arms and body, and she grunted. So far, so good.

But soon it escalated. Her knuckles began to ache sorely. She felt ribs snap and fists pummel her. Fiery burns slammed into her like rockets, scorching her chest. She let out a long wail as a deep gash split her scalp. She cried out as stab after stab punctured her abdomen. She was beaten to a bloody mess, her whole body began to bake and burn, and sweat broke out over her whole body. She howled in pain as her arms and legs broke time and time again and a knife began to slit her throat, reaching the halfway point before it stopped. Something hot gouged her chest with markings. Gradually it toned down and became less intense. Finally it was down to bruises and small cuts, and then there was no more.

The Arbiter released her, and she fell to the ground. There she laid, panting and drenched with sweat. Her entire body felt like it had been run through a meat grinder. Nothing didn't hurt or ache. The Arbiter bent down next to her face and grimaced. "I'm afraid you're just going to have to give it time," said the Arbiter mournfully. "It should be completely gone in three days. I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have. It's my fault you're in so much pain. I shouldn't have." Presea coughed and forced a smile. "No," she whispered, "you did nothing wrong." Her comfort helped ease his spirit some, but he still felt troubled by what he had done.

He gently picked her up and laid her down in her bed. Presea drew a sharp breath as his arms caused bars of fire on her back. He covered her with a blanket and got dressed again. The Arbiter drew a syringe out of a compartment in his belt, extracted medicine from a vial, and held it up to the light. "I can't do anything about the pain," said the Arbiter, "but this should help you get some rest." He took her arm and jabbed the needle into her arm, depressing the plunger fully. Presea immediately went to sleep. The Arbiter left, and shut the door behind him as he went. He was glad he had used that soundproofing device. Presea had quite a set of lungs in her.

As he passed Genis on his way out, he laid a hand on the young boy's shoulder. "You will need to tend to your loved one for a few days," he said. "It was her decision, but I still feel responsible. Please forgive me." Genis was confused. "What do you mean?" he asked. The Arbiter turned towards the front door. "She will tell you if she wishes," he said. Then he walked out the door, and it was a long time until they saw him again.

Presea woke the next day. It was dark and Genis sat slumped over in a chair, asleep. Presea lifted her head and winced. The sharpness of all her pain had been dulled, and now it simply ached everywhere. She laid herself back gently and sighed. She had gotten the best sleep of her life, but couldn't do anything now that she was up. She noticed that the Arbiter's stone lay on the nightstand next to her bed. She picked it up and gazed into it. It seemed to shine unnaturally bright. It almost seemed like it was talking to her by the way it glinted. Presea could even tell what it was asking. It wanted to know what she wanted it to do. No one was around, so...

"Send the Arbiter a message," she whispered to it. It glinted again, and paused, apparently waiting to record. Into the rock she poured her feelings of love and gratitude for the Arbiter. She let him know that she was grateful for sharing his feelings and for their relationship. With her feelings she sent the words, "Be strong. We are all behind you fully, and we won't let you fall."

She finished and looked at the stone in her hand. It was still frozen in the phase it was in when she began. Suddenly it seemed to realize she was done, and refracted a "Message Sent" to her. Satisfied, she laid it down and stared at the ceiling. She was still so awake, and felt no exhaustion whatsoever. It was irritating that her pain was keeping her in bed. Ironically, she thought, it was the pain that caused her to have such great sleep in the first place.

She wrinkled her brow in thought. There was something tickling the back of her mind. Something that had drifted across her mind as her consciousness faded. It was small and distant, yet it seemed somehow...important. It almost felt like it wasn't from herself.

It was probably nothing. She shrugged it off, displacing it to the back of her mind so she could focus on what to do about her current dilemma.

She sighed. Pain or no pain, she was getting up. She had just managed to pull herself out of bed and take two careful steps forward when Genis woke up. He smacked his lips and looked at the bed, and when he found that Presea wasn't in it, he turned his head to see her standing there, stark naked. "Uhhhhmmmmm," he said uncertainly. Presea couldn't help but crack a grin at his red face. Unfortunately, her amusement caused her to fall over. "Dammit!" she said loudly, clutching her left arm in pain. "You uh, shouldn't get out of bed if you hurt so much," Genis said, momentarily free of her spell. Then she was up again, and again he turned into a drooling idiot. Presea sighed and hobbled over to her wardrobe. "No need to get dressed so soon," mumbled Genis. Presea rolled her eyes. Men! she thought.

By the time she made it down the stairs, Presea's whole body was on fire again and she had a headache. She looked up blearily over a cup of coffee at the others, who stared at her. "What," she said miserably. "Oh, nothing," said Sheena, turning away. "Yeah, whatever," muttered Presea, sipping her java.

"So, did all my students do their homework?" asked Zelos, a little too happily. "Yes," groaned Genis. "Yep," said Colette. "You bet we did!" said Sheena and Lloyd at the same time. "Blah," said Presea. Zelos slowly moved his head and looked at Lloyd and Sheena. He stuck a finger at them and wagged it. "From now on, you do your homework on your own, you hear me?" he said. "Especially in my class! Not only will you get bad grades, you'll get whatever each other has got, savvy? Not that I'm implying you've got anything." Lloyd opened his mouth to speak. "I don't care if you needed visual aids!" exclaimed Zelos. "That's why I gave you those handouts!" Sheena opened her mouth to speak. "No!" said Zelos. "The hands-on approach doesn't apply to my field of study! No more!"

Lloyd and Sheena stood up in a huff. "Fine then!" said Lloyd. "We've got an announcement to make! Me and Sheena are-" "Going to get married!" finished Sheena. "Really?" said Raine. "Because Regal and I are too!" "So were we!" said Zelos and Colette. A fork fell out of Genis' mouth. Presea managed to lift her head past her cup. No one said anything for a long moment. "When?" asked Kratos. "New Year's," they said unanimously. "Great!" said Yuan. "A triple marriage!" "Hmm," said Botta, wondering where they were hiding the LSD.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," said Ryoko when they called her with the news. "So you want the Shinsengumi to be bridesmaids?" "And Taiho and Shizuma to be on the guys' side," said Raine over the phone. "They can be groomsmen." "Ok, but it's gonna take a lot to get that out of those two," said Ryoko. "Rest assured, they'll have what they want," replied Raine. "Don't say that lightly," warned Ryoko. Raine laughed.

New Year's day approached quickly, but still no sign of the Arbiter had been forthcoming. Presea received nothing from him at all.

She hoped he was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

The Arbiter watched he ceremony from a corner of the church. Genis and Presea now walked up the aisle, each holding a silk pillow with three rings on it. Presea presented her rings to the brides, and Genis gave his to the men. The brides and grooms slipped the rings on, repeated some words after the priest, and kissed. Then everyone clapped. Flashbulbs lit up the stage.

The Arbiter noted with some interest, that the attendees were mostly invited by those whom the newlyweds had invited. Since they only knew about twenty Earthlings, they had left it up to those few to invite more. Even those who the Symphonians had invited weren't that close to them, or at least not yet.

As the married couples began walking down the aisle, the Arbiter took his cue and exited through a back door. He did not wish to disrupt their happy day with his presence. Besides, there was only one person he wanted to talk to. He tuned in on the inside. He found Presea's mind, isolated it, and focused his thoughts into her brain.

Presea's eyelids drooped, and her mouth hung open as she felt a wave of dizziness come over her. While it washed over her, the words _meet me at the back door of the reception hall _formed in her mind. Then the vertigo passed, and she opened her eyes wide. The Arbiter was back!

Presea opened the door when she finally managed to break away and looked up and down the empty alleyway. She felt a tug on her mind to go to the left. Presea followed the gentle pull all the way back to the end of the narrow space. Presea stood there and shivered in the darkness, waiting for something to happen. Then a delicate, almost imperceptible nudge on her neck made her look to the right. There a door stood partially open, as if inviting her in. Whatever had been guiding her hadn't harmed her yet, and she felt confident in her martial arts, so she pushed the door open and went inside.

She took a few steps inside before a force made her go back and shut the door. With cautious sweeps of the room, with great deliberance, and with a curious mind she ventured into the dark. There was a click and a lamp blazed on in the middle of the room, illuminating everything with glaring white light.

The Arbiter's hand fell away from the lamp and he gazed intently at his friend. Presea sighed and smiled with relief. "It's good to see you again," she said. The Arbiter said nothing, but glanced at the floor and back up again. "What's wrong?" asked Presea with a tilt of her head. The Arbiter seemed surprised. "Ah, well, I cannot really discuss it," he said uncomfortably. Presea was about to ask what he could tell her about it when the feeling she had had after their last connection slammed back into her with alarming urgency.

She scrunched up her face. "Hey, Arbiter," she said, "who's G-Man?" The Arbiter's head snapped up. "I've never heard of such a person," he said almost immediately. Presea's eyes narrowed. She could tell he was lying, but decided to let it go, for now at least. She decided to change the subject. "So what happened when you left our home?" Presea asked. "You never told us what that was all about." "How do you mean?" the Arbiter asked warily. "Well, you were bleeding," Presea pointed out. "Oh, that," said the Arbiter as if it was the most trivial thing in the world. "Just a scrape with some ruffians on my way home." Presea fell silent and stared at the floor. The Arbiter wondered what he had done wrong.

When she looked back up, the Arbiter was stung by her hurt expression. "Can't you even tell _me_ the truth?" she asked. The Arbiter hesitated. "No," he said at last. "I am not allowed to discuss my, uh, assignments with anyone. I am, truly sorry, but that is how it must be. I cannot compromise my work. It is my duty to see that what I do is kept a secret. I should expect you to understand that." Presea nodded. She did understand, but still...

The Arbiter hesitantly approached the girl, and embraced her. "If ever my work is done, then you will be the first to hear of it," he said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. Presea sniffled and looked up at him. She gave him a smile. "I'll look forward to it," she said. The Arbiter smiled, half because of her smile, half because he was relieved.

The Arbiter's smile suddenly vanished, and he released Presea and produced an oval shaped object that glowed blue at one end. "There are footsteps in the alley," he whispered. Presea looked towards the door. The Arbiter grabbed her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Go check outside and see who it is," he said. "I'll be right behind you."

Presea was a little worried, but she nodded her head. She stepped up to the door and grasped the chilled handle with her gloved hand. She hesitated half a moment before opening the door a crack and peering outside. At first, she could see nothing. Then she adjusted her angle of view, and someone came into sight. She sighed. "It's Kratos," she said. Three more people came up behind him. "And Yuan, Botta, and Genis, too," she added. Presea looked back at the Arbiter, who nodded and waved at the door. She opened it wide and the men outside turned towards the noise. "Hey guys," she said with a smile and a small wave.

They smiled back and she beckoned for them to come inside. "What are you doing out here?" asked Genis as he crossed the threshold. Then he saw the Arbiter. "Oh," Genis said. The Arbiter put away the thing he was holding by stowing it in a hidden compartment in his armor. "I am sorry if we have worried you," the Arbiter said with a bow. "It was not my intention to cause you undue anxiety. I merely wished to talk to Presea." "Well, we didn't know where she went, so naturally we noticed and went looking for her," replied Kratos. The Arbiter dipped his head in respect. "Understandably," he said.

"So where have you been?" asked Yuan. "We haven't seen you in quite a while." The Arbiter glanced around and cleared his throat. "My, ah, work, has been culminating recently, and I haven't gotten a chance to see you until now," he explained. "Through Presea's encouragement was greatly appreciated." The men were confused, and Presea was no help at all, for she just stood there with her hands behind her back and grinned. "In any case," said the Arbiter, dismissing his last remark, "I just found out about this wedding yesterday, and I must say, I was quite, um, surprised. Or I wasn't. I was half-expecting it, you might say. I was glad, but of course I could not reveal myself in front of the other humans. So I waited until the opportune moment, and contacted Presea. Don't worry if you don't understand." "Good," said Botta, "because we don't." The Arbiter waved his hand in the air. "I'll explain sometime," he said.

"So do you want to meet the newlyweds?" asked Genis. The Arbiter shook his head. "No," he said, "I do not wish to disturb them. It is a special day, and I don't want to impose anything on them with my arrival." There was silence for a moment, until Genis spoke again. "What do we do now?" he asked. "What do you mean?" asked Presea. Genis shrugged. "Well, all the guests are leaving, the brides and grooms have left, the people we hired are cleaning up the hall, and we don't really have a home to go to tonight, since, well, you know, with them at home." "Ah, yes," said Kratos uncomfortably. They all laughed. "What do they know about us?" asked Yuan. "By which I mean, how much do they know about what we're going to do tonight?" "As far as they know," said Kratos, "we'll be returning tomorrow afternoon. We have until then to do, well, whatever, I suppose." "So what should we do?" asked Genis again.

They pondered this long and hard. Almost everything they thought of was struck down, since they couldn't have the Arbiter there. As another silence descended upon the group, the Arbiter spoke up for the first time. "If there was one place, one place at all, that you would like to go," he said, his head tilted towards the floor, "where would it be?" "Why?" asked Presea. The Arbiter looked up and smiled. "Because I have I way to get there," he said.

Presea looked up at the Arbiter. In the glow of the pale moon, with his armor glowing softly, and with his somber facing gazing forward, he looked like a hero out of legend, a champion for justice and peace. He looked like an object of reverence for the good, and one of fear for the bad. Yet still he seemed distant, a lone warrior from an age long past, and one destined to stay forever on a world that was not his. He was the embodiment of eternity if Presea had ever seen one. Then he turned to Presea, and then back to what he was staring at before.

"This is it," the Arbiter said. A gleaming, black-hulled starship hovered just above the ground not ten feet from them. The humans seemed to be in shock, and the Arbiter smiled. "Wait until you see the inside," he said with a laugh. "Come on, let's get inside."

The inside was even more impressive than the outside. It wasn't stark and built for strict functionality. No, it was just the opposite. Beautifully crafted furniture was built into the ship, and the entire interior was gorgeous to look at, with its pleasing curves and dark hues of violet and blue. Even the readout displays were aesthetically pleasing, the floating blue holograms complemented with orange indicators. Curving viewports gave splendid panoramas of the outside world, and they were all of them eager to see what the Earth looked like from the air. "So then," said the Arbiter, settling into the pilot's chair, "where was it you wanted to go?"

"It's called Jamaica," called Presea. "Do you have a map?" The Arbiter nodded and pulled up a world map. Presea pointed out the island in the Atlantic Ocean. "Jamaica it is," said the Arbiter, plotting in a course. "Get ready for the experience of a lifetime." "You know about Jamaica?" asked Kratos. The Arbiter looked back and grinned. "I was talking about the flight there," he said.

The Arbiter laughed and began pressing buttons. A few faint humming sounds turned on and, just perceptibly, they began moving. The only way to really tell that there was any movement at all was to look out the window, the Arbiter informed them. They all turned to a viewport and gazed out. The lights of Japan were streaking behind and below them quickly. Then they stood still and began to simply shrink away into the distance. They passed through layers of clouds, and before they knew it they were outside of the atmosphere. "Look up," said the Arbiter. They did, and gasped. The moon hung above them, a silver sphere in a starry background. "Now look down," said the Arbiter. Again they were astounded by the magnificence of what they saw. Japan was a golden island in a sea of darkness. Vladivostok shimmered faintly nearby, and China was lit with a bright flame. Other cities and countries glowed with their own lights. Then they began to move again, incredibly fast, and the Earth turned beneath them. Then a sudden shine came from the far side of the Earth as the rays of the sun struck the land and sea. In a matter of seconds they had come to stop above the island of Jamaica.

It was bright, it was early, and there was not a cloud to be seen over the island paradise to which they descended.

" 'ere you ah, folks! A medley juice for de lady and de lad, two sunrises and a ice tea for de men, and one big ol' plate o' jerk chicken. Anythin' else for you all?"

Kratos lowered his shades. "Thank you, but that will be all for now," he said, before pushing the glasses back on his nose. "Well den, thank you, and enjoy!" said the waiter with a bow. Yuan smiled and tossed him a substantial sum. "Thank you for the excellent service," he said. The waiter's eyes widened at the cash, and he bowed again. "You ah most welcome, sah!" he said with a laugh and a shake of the cash. Yuan chuckled. "These guys crack me up," he said.

Genis took a big bite of the chicken. "This is great!" he exclaimed. "Really?" said Presea, taking a small bite. She swallowed and froze with her eyes staring straight ahead. "Ahhh," she said. "What?" asked Kratos. Presea suddenly lunged for her drink and downed it in several big gulps. She sucked in thin breaths between her teeth. After a minute or so she opened her mouth and panted. Finally she regained normality. She looked over at Genis, who was still devouring the chicken. "How can you eat that flaming food!" she exclaimed. He shrugged. "Too much tasting in the kitchen," he replied. "Besides, I already liked spicy stuff before I started cooking." Kratos, Yuan, and Botta all tried some. "This is quite good," said Kratos. "Hot, but definitely good," said Botta. "Very delicious," said Yuan. They all ate it with no problem. Presea sulked hungrily.

"If you can't eat this, you should order something else," said Kratos. "You'll need your strength for later." Presea brightened. "Okay!" she said. She got up and, after making sure her bikini was in order, went over to the bar and examined the menu. At a recommendation from her waiter, she ordered a seafood combination plate. "We got one already made up, since it's de special of de day," said the waiter. "You want to add it to your check?" Presea said yes, and took the plate back to the lounge chairs on the beach where they were sitting.

Presea sighed as she sat back down. She gazed out at the blue skies, clear ocean, and white sand. It was so beautiful here you could almost believe there was nothing bad in the world. Presea glanced at her watch. It was now 5:30 A.M. in Japan, which meant it was one-thirty P.M. here. They had arrived here a little before eleven P.M., Japanese time, making it eight in the morning in Jamaica. They had curled up inside the ship and slept for about five hours, until one o'clock in the afternoon. They all felt fine, since the Symphonians had been oversleeping for a week to look good for the wedding (Sheena had been very strict!) and the Arbiter was built and trained to run on less sleep. Afterwards they bought and changed into swimsuits, for even though it was winter, the air was hot, the water was cool, and it was perfect for swimming.

The Arbiter had decided to take the ship into the jungle, and had asked the rest of them to meet up with him at a precise location on the island at five P.M. sharp. He had given them a radar device to pinpoint where he wanted them to go. In any case, the Arbiter seemed happier to explore the jungle than walk the beach and swim, even if he had a choice.

Presea finished her delicious meal and set the plate aside. She sighed and laid back. Unhappy with her pale skin, she decided to darken a little bit and began rubbing herself with tanning lotion. "Would you get my back?" she asked Genis. "Uh, okay," he said, managing to keep his voice from cracking.

"You know you guys have to wait at least an hour to go in after eating, right?" she said while Genis massaged her back. "Of course," said Kratos. "Good," she said. "So are you going to tan with me until then?" The men sighed. "I suppose so," was the general response.

After what seemed like an eternity to the guys, Presea finally announced that they could go in. They all sprinted down the beach and jumped into the crystal water. Genis turned back after a few steps and turned around. "How rude of me," he said with a bow to Presea. "May I have this swim?" She giggled and walked forward, taking his hand. "I would be honored," she replied.

Together they ran down the hot sand and splashed into the cool water. Presea submerged herself and rose out of the water with a rush. Genis stared in awe. Her long wet hair ran down her back, and her head was thrown back, her eyes closed and her mouth open. Sunshine sparkled on the drops of water in the air around her head and rippling down her bronzed skin. She looked so beautiful...time seemed to stand still, with her slender body locked in its graceful tableau.

Then time moved forward again and she sank back into the water. Genis shook his head to relieve the awe he was caught in. He looked around for Presea, but she was nowhere in sight. Genis jumped when hands tickled his ribs. He looked behind himself to see Presea laughing at him. With a huge grin he shoved her back into the water. Presea got back up and tackled him.

In the end, Genis was forced to try to end the battle tactfully, because it was clear to all that he was losing. However, it didn't work, and he was doomed to be known as having lost to a girl. The funny thing was, it didn't sting as much as he'd thought it would. "So what if Presea's a girl?" he said to his smirking friends. "She's stronger than me, and she beat me. You never made fun of me when Lloyd beat me because he was stronger." Kratos smiled and shook his head. "Genis," he said, laying a hand on his young comrade's shoulder, "for such a small person, you are well on your way to becoming a big man." He let that sink in, then took his hand off Genis' shoulder. "We should go now," Kratos announced. "It is time to see the Arbiter."

After retrieving their things from the bar's locker, they headed out to the place where they were to meet the Arbiter. He had recommended they not change clothes, but shoes. In accordance with his direction, they had purchased hiking boots, which they put on for their trek into the jungle.

About halfway into their thirty minute hike to meet the Arbiter, Genis stopped and panted. "Wait for Presea," he gasped. The men had been going along at an easy pace, but it was still quite a difficult trail for smaller legs. Presea had been bringing up the rear, and was now lagging behind. Kratos, Yuan, and Botta looked back and nodded. Presea huffed up the hill and bent over double next to Genis, breathing hard. Genis noticed a black tube tied to her bikini bottom. The weight caused it to slide down, and every so often Presea would readjust her swimsuit and hold it up, only to let it go and have it slide back down. Finally, when they decided to get going again, Presea untied the tube from her swimsuit, retied her swimsuit, and held the tube in her hand. Genis frowned and pointed at the tube.

"What is that?" he asked. "It's the Arbiter's gift," she said. "An energy sword. I felt I might need it today. Don't ask me why." Genis shrugged and started walking. The others followed suit, and began to make their way up the rest of the hill.

Eventually they came to a wide open lawn on top of the hill they were climbing. Kratos checked the locating device: this was where they were supposed to be. "Hello, everyone," said the Arbiter. They all turned in surprise; he had come up from behind them, silent as a ghost. "Don't do that again!" exclaimed Presea with her hand over her beating heart. The Arbiter held up a hand in apology. "I apologize," he said, "but I needed to test my stealth techniques, and it was such a good opportunity..."

"Why did you need to test them?" asked Botta. The Arbiter looked at him oddly. "To make sure they worked," the Arbiter said finally. "Anyhow, I have been exploring this jungle for quite some time, but there is nothing really remarkable here. I think we should go somewhere else." "Like where?" asked Genis. The Arbiter shrugged, showing his human influence once again. "I don't know," he said. "I assume you know more about this planet than I do." The humans thought for a moment in silence, their heads cocked, straining for ideas.

Eventually they gave up. "I don't know," said Kratos said. "Perhaps we should just go home." "If that is the decision," said the Arbiter, "then there is something I could show you. It's not much, but it's better than leaving just yet." Kratos spread his hands out in front of him. "Lead on, then," he said.

The Arbiter nodded, and turned to lead them into the forest. "Wait," said Kratos. The Arbiter halted and turned his head back to look at him. "Do you have some sort of weapon, or something?" Kratos asked. The Arbiter looked puzzled. "It's just that I feel unprotected in the wilderness if I don't have a weapon." The Arbiter dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Here," he said, tossing Kratos a black metal tube about the size of a flashlight. "It's an energy sword." "How do you use it?" asked Kratos. The Arbiter looked at Presea. "I thought I told you how to use it," he said. "Yes, well, um, you see," she fumbled while she showed him her sword, "You, uh, never told me which way was forward, and I didn't want to slice my hand off, or anything." The Arbiter laughed. "I'm sorry," he said, coming over to Presea and turning the tube around in her hand. "That is the correct way to do it," he said. "Ohhh," said Presea, feeling the now-comfortable weight in her hand. Tentatively she squeezed the switch. It depressed, and a faint expectant humming began to emanate from it. Then, she flicked her wrist and brought it back to center.

With a _pop_ like that of breaking glass, a dual pronged blade of energy materialized around her hand and pointed forward. It seemed heavy and she had a hard time trying to find her balance. "Most beings find it easier to hold out their other arm bent out in front of them, like this," said the Arbiter, demonstrating how to hold the sword. Presea bent her left arm at the elbow and held it out in front of her with her hand next to the hilt. Almost instantly the sword seemed to align itself and her body regained balance. "Whoa!" she said. The Arbiter chuckled.

There was another _pop_ and Kratos held out his sword as Presea did. Together they made a few cautious swipes at greenery until they got the feel for the sword. "Ready?" asked the Arbiter when they were done. "Ready," was their answer. "Then let's go."

Through dense jungle and high grass they hiked. Every now and again they were afforded with some astounding views of the rain forest and the mountains. But every time they thought they had arrived, the Arbiter would chuckle and say, "No, we have a ways to go yet. What we're looking for is much better than that." And then they would groan, get up, and go marching through the foliage.

Wet leaves brushed them as they walked, and soon they were as drenched in water and sweat as they had been in the sea. The Arbiter suddenly came to a halt. He examined the palm fronds blocking their path. "We're here," he said when he found what he was looking for. "Prepare yourselves." Presea wondered what it could be, the same as all the others were.

With a sweep of his hands, the Arbiter pulled away the fronds, revealing what he had been leading them to. They all drew in a deep breath in amazement. The land ended, and for as far as they could see the ocean spread out before them, glittering in the light of the fading sun. Boats sailed unhurriedly on the sea, their owners taking them home after a long day of work. "It's beautiful," whispered Presea. Kratos stared silently out on the calm, picturesque scene.

"It's pretty, ain't it?" came a voice from behind them. They all turned to see a young black man and an older white guy in black suits, white shirts, and black shades. The two men removed their glasses and put them in a shirt pocket. "Ah, jay, kay," said the Arbiter. "So good to see you." He did not seem enthused at all.

"Roivas Ruo Si Retibra Eht," said the older man, looking down at some electronic device. He talked with a deep, cowboyish accent. "Says here your license restricts you to the islands of Japan while you're on Earth," said the black man. The Arbiter tapped his arm plate impatiently. "Wasn't I granted traveling rights for my, uh, work?" he asked. "That's 'cause you're fighting the Combine, son," said the white man. "Doesn't look like you're fighting now." The Arbiter rolled his eyes. "But K, surely I can be excused this one time," he protested. "I'm with my friends." He gestured to the confused humans and half-elves.

"They're the ones you're staying with?" asked the black man, presumably the one named J, since the white man had been referred to as K. "Yes," said the Arbiter. K frowned, glancing at his scanner/communicator. "Whoa, hold on there," he said. "Someone here ain't human, and it's not the Arbiter. Three someones, in fact." K walked over to Genis, Yuan, and Botta. "Who are you?" he asked Genis. "Genis Sage," the boy said while the scanner checked his voice and genetic profile. "Hmm," said K. There was no match for his species in the database. That probably meant only one thing...

"Are you from Sylvarant?" he asked. "Yeah!" said Genis, in awe. "You know about us?" "Course," said K. "We don't get that many from the other side, so we don't bother entering it into the computer system. So how are things over there?" "Sylvarant and Tethe'alla recombined," said Kratos. J and K looked at each other. "Not since what we've heard," said J. "Ah, yes, that's right," said Yuan. "Don't tell me you're from the future, too?" said K. "Well, yeah," said Genis, "but how could you possibly _guess_ that!"

K sighed. "It's a long story," he said, "but basically our sensors picked up a temporal ripple a while back, indicating a disturbance in time. We don't normally deal with that, but after the arrival and death of those Cruxis guys, well...anyhow, from what we gathered, there was a lot of time traveling going on for a while. Then it died down, and we assumed everything was fine. But when are you guys from?"

The humans and half-elves consulted each other. "When we got here," said Kratos at last, "it was in the future of this world, the present of ours, which had just recently rejoined. Somehow we got stuck and ended up here. From what you've told us, our world went back in time too. So, I'd say in about ten years we'll be back at the time we arrived here."

"Wait, something doesn't add up here," said J, his hands up. "We assume the remaining members of Cruxis went back in time when they crossed over to this side the very first time," explained Botta. "That makes more sense," said K. "Well, Arbiter, we'll let you off this time. As for your pals, well, they're all from that other world?" "Yes, as well as six more," answered the Arbiter. K shook his head. "I think they've got enough problems already," said J. "We'll let you go without anything special," K said. "Just know we'll check in on you every so often. Oh, and please try not to discharge your weapons in view of the public."

With that the men turned and walked off into the brush.

"That was odd," said Yuan.

"I think it went rather well," said the Arbiter.

"Can we go home now?" asked Presea.

"That sounds good to me," said Genis.

"Yes, let's go," said Kratos.

"Fair enough," the Arbiter conceded. He called his ship to the cliff, and they took off.


	4. Chapter 4

The throbbing in his temples woke him up. "Ahhh," moaned Lloyd, rubbing his temples. He sat up in bed and winced with pain, from his head and from, well, below the belt. He looked over at his sleeping- jeez, she was his _wife_ now, how scary was that!- wife and wondered where Sheena had learned to be such a demon in the sack. He also wondered how she could sleep so well after all the liquor she had last night. He knew he was sick of the stuff, and would definitely be untainted for a long time.

He sighed and threw the sheets off of himself. He scratched his stomach as he walked/limped over to his dresser to clothe his nakedness.

His eyes half open, he limped down the stairs to the kitchen. He found Zelos at the table, his hair mussed up, and a coffee cup in front of himself. He looked up as Lloyd entered the room. Zelos' eyes were red and tired. Noticing Lloyd's limp, Zelos cracked a broken smile. "Hehe," he said. "Was it great, or was it great?" Lloyd sat down and put his head in his hands, a smile splitting his face. "It was great," he said weakly. "But I'll bet yours last night wasn't your first." Zelos rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "To tell the truth, Lloyd," said Zelos, "it was." Lloyd looked up at him in wonder. Zelos looked sad and happy at the same time, if it was possible.

"I had come so very close a few times," said Zelos after a long pause. "I was practically in the bed with them, but something always held me back. It was something that my sister said, a long time ago. She said, 'If you give your virginity away, you'll never get it back. You should save it for the one you really love as a special gift, and remember, no time is as special as the first.' I never forgot those words. And I, well, I felt kinda stupid and immature after she said that. I had thought I would do it whenever, with whoever, but...when I heard something like _that_ come out of my little sister, of all people, it made me think. Someone younger than me, supposedly less mature than me, already knew something like that. I felt like a fool." Lloyd stared at Zelos, then smiled compassionately. He placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Well," said Lloyd, "you weren't a fool for waiting. You did the right thing. I'm proud of you. And I'm sure Colette is too. You gave her one of the best gifts possible." Zelos looked at Lloyd's hand. Then he looked up at Lloyd's face and cocked his head, looking at Lloyd oddly. "Thanks, dude," Zelos said sincerely. "You're a really cool friend, you know that?"

Lloyd just smiled. Zelos never ceased to amaze him. You'd think you'd figured him out, and then you'd learn something like this and be caught completely off guard. It was because of things like these that Lloyd respected and cared for Zelos so much. He could be more mature and thoughtful than the rest of the group at times, even more so than the Professor, and Lloyd couldn't help but be awed at times like these, like when the young carefree narcissist would turn into the cool, logical warrior that enemies cowered before and comrades obeyed. Zelos was really something else. In retrospect, Lloyd realized, all his friends were really like that, but the intrigue and mystery only made him love them all the more.

Lloyd withdrew his hand and sighed. "Yeah," he said, "but if only my stomach would cool down. Ugh, it feels like I'm gonna puke or something." Zelos raised a finger as he sipped his coffee. "Mmm," he said, putting down his mug. From his robe he produced a bottle of pink liquid. "Drink some, dosage according to the label," Zelos said, pointing at the bottle. "I discovered that stuff on the first day; let me tell you, that stuff works wonders."

Lloyd examined the label and began to unscrew the cap as he read. "Huh?" he said. "Oh," said Zelos when he noticed Lloyd's difficulty. "You have to push down on the cap and twist it to open it." "Ahhh," said Lloyd as he unscrewed the top. "So, all of what you said earlier aside...how was it?" Zelos glanced up at Lloyd, smirked, and shook his head with a laugh. "I've poisoned you, haven't I now?" Zelos said jokingly. "But I tell you what man, that was, oh man it was awesome! Colette is a freakin' sex _goddess_!" Lloyd laughed out loud and Zelos joined him.

"What was that?" asked Regal as he came down the stairs. Zelos shook his head. "Ah, nothing," he said. "What's happening, my man?" Regal sat down next to Lloyd. "Are you hungry?" Regal inquired of the hung-over men. "I won't be for a while," said Lloyd as he gulped down the pink elixir. "Yeah, I guess I am," said Zelos. "What would you like?" asked Regal. Zelos pondered a moment. "Just good ol' eggs, bacon, and toast with jam," said Zelos. "Nothing fancy, just something good and filling." Regal nodded. "I'll get started, then," he said, and rose from the table to begin breakfast.

"So, anything interesting happen last night?" asked Zelos of Regal, a huge smile on his face. Regal looked back from the stove and smiled in return. "Well I think that's a given," he said. He turned back and resumed monitoring the frying pan. "And?" Zelos drawled. "Anything in particular you can tell us?" Regal cleared his throat. "The most I can tell you is this," he said. "The Professor has read a lot of books, if you catch my drift."

Zelos snorted, laughed and slapped the table. Regal chuckled and Lloyd shook his head with a smile. "I'm not sure that's a pleasant image," he said. "But Lloyd, she's gorgeous!" said Zelos. "Yeah," said Lloyd, "but she's also been my teacher for my entire education. Imagine knowing things like _that_ about one of your teachers, no matter how pretty!" Zelos grimaced. "I see your point," he said painfully.

"Hey, guys," said Sheena sleepily as she entered the kitchen, followed by Colette and Raine. Sheena sat next to Lloyd and rested her head on his shoulder, and Colette did the same to Zelos. Lloyd put his arm around Sheena. "Hey babe," he said. Zelos kissed Colette on the forehead. "Good morning, my little angel," he said.

Raine came up behind Regal and kissed him on the cheek. "Aww, you made breakfast," said Raine. "That's really nice." Regal smiled at her. "I figured it would be the best way to get you all out of bed," he said. Raine laughed. "Well, it beats an alarm clock," she mused.

"No, Lloyd, you have to divide both sides by three first," said Raine. "Ohhh," said Lloyd, erasing his errors and rewriting the corrections on his math. "I get it now. Thanks, Raine!"

It was half past one on that same day. Lloyd had been having a problem with his algebra and had asked the Professor to help him, naturally. They sat on the couch and worked out his problems.

Lloyd sighed and stretched when they finished. "Thanks, Professor," he said. A sudden feeling washed over him. "Hey, Raine?" he said. "Yes?" asked Raine. "I-I know I'm not the best student," he said, "but, I'm really trying to get better. But what I do isn't really half of it. I, I never would have gotten this far in my life if you weren't in it. You actually manage to teach me stuff, and, as strange as it seems, you make learning fun. I just want you to know, you're an amazing teacher, an excellent fighter and team player, and just a really great woman. And you're not such a bad chef, either. I just want you want you to know that. You're like the mother I never knew." Raine sighed in wonder. "Oh, Lloyd," she whispered, tears welling up. She hugged him tightly, and he awkwardly hugged her back. "Thank you," she choked.

Lloyd swallowed, feeling a thick, unexpected lump in his throat. "You're like the son I never had." "Yeah," he whispered back. He felt her warm tears caress his neck, and tried not to cry himself as he realized how much weight his words carried.

"You know something weird?" he said after a moment, when he could control himself. "I never really knew my mother, because she died when I was very young. It was always just Dirk." Lloyd swallowed, pressing past the feelings, and continued. "Or it was him and Kratos. I don't know how to say this, but, well, it just seems kind of strange to me that you wound up with Regal. It just seems weird that my mother and my father figures didn't come together. I don't know if you understand what I mean." Raine drew away from him, still clasping his shoulders, and nodded. Wiping away her tears, she said, "Although I can't really empathize, I do understand what you mean." Lloyd nodded slowly.

With that Raine released him. He stood up with his papers and arranged them. "Thanks again," he said, and walked off up the stairs into his room.

Yuan picked up the sheet of paper and read it. "Huh," he said. "What is it?" asked Kratos. "Well," said Yuan, "most people go straight to their honeymoons after the wedding, or so I thought. It seems they left for theirs today." "What!" exclaimed Genis. "They never told us that!" Botta shrugged. "I suppose they wanted to keep it a secret," he said. "Makes it seem more exciting, I guess."

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Presea. "It says they won't be back until Monday morning," replied Yuan, studying the note. "We have tonight and tomorrow to do whatever we want." "'What do we want' is the question now," mused the Arbiter. "I kinda feel like fighting," said Genis. "Yeah, me too," said Presea quietly. "It has been quite some time since you saw any action," said Kratos. "You're still not used to it." The Arbiter tapped his armor. "Well, if you wanted to see action," he said, "it seems there are two possibilities: Come with me, or find your friend Ryoko. We always seem to be fighting someone or something." The Arbiter suddenly looked a little bit glum. "Ah, no, I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry but...I can't take you with me. It's really against regulations. But if you take my advice, go find Ryoko."

The Arbiter cocked his head to one side. "Excuse me a moment," he said. Turning around, he placed one hand to the side of his head. After a minute or two he turned around again. "It seems my time is up," he said. "I'll have to be leaving you for now. My, uhh, employer, has insisted I return." Kratos nodded. "Understood," he said. "Until we meet again, Arbiter." The Arbiter said goodbye to each of them, and disappeared out the door. Genis gazed questioningly at the rest of the group. "So?" he said. "Are we gonna take his advice or not?"

Kratos looked at them. "Well?" he said at last. "Are there any opposed?" Silence. "All right then," he said. "Let's go."

Ryoko dodged the underhanded thrust and slashed down with her sword. The guy rolled out of the way and swung his katana at her head. She dodged and smashed her left fist into his face. Her hand came away wet. "I win," she said. The guy got up, wiped his nose, looked at his hand, and sighed. "You win, as always," he said with a smile. Ryoko smiled back. She was the best out of anyone she knew at first-blood. The rest of the girls, and Taiho and Shizuma, were pretty good, but lost occasionally because of their instincts to block and take small hits with their bodies.

Well, not all of the girls, Ryoko thought. Aoi, now Aoi was good. She was nearly as good at first-blood. She floated and dodged and struck at the best moment. In this way, she won all of her matches. She hadn't lost yet since she started playing. Ryoko only took the lead because she won all her matches and won them faster.

"What are you doing?" came a deep but familiar voice from behind Ryoko. She couldn't place the voice, so she turned around. "Kratos!" she said. "We're in the middle of a first-blood tournament." "I see," said the man. "You can take one of our places, if you want," said Ryoko. "We've played a million of 'em. So are the others off on their honeymoons?" "Yes," replied Kratos. "How do you play?" "Well," said Asuka, who stood about two meters away, "as the name implies, the person who draws blood first wins the one on one match. There are only a couple of rules. Number one, no bladed weapons allowed. Kendo sticks and weapons without sharp cutting edges are fine. Number two, the only hits that count are from the waist up. It's mostly for the men, but some of the ladies would prefer to keep their legs pretty, also. And when you draw blood, you announce it and prove it by showing the blood coming from the other person. After you draw blood, the match is over. No more hits. That's basically all. Everything and anything else goes. So are you interested?"

"Let's do it!" said Genis. "Sounds like fun," said Yuan. "Sure," said Kratos. "We'd be honored." "In that case, one of you can take my place," said Azumi as she walked up behind Ryoko. "It's always cool to see new fighters show their stuff." Four other newbies also gave up their positions, eager to see the newcomers and hesitant to fight the better warriors. "Well, then, the next match will be Presea and Xiaoxing," said Ryoko, updating the tournament battle chart. Presea held up her ax. "Do you have something similar to this I can use?" she asked. "Yeah, I think so," said Megumi. There was a pile of weapons on the ground near her, and she went through them quickly.

"Here we go!" she said. Megumi tossed Presea an oak ax with a blunted nickel axhead. Presea gauged it carefully, then grasped it firmly in two hands. "Okay," she said at last. "Then in the circle you go," Ryoko said. Presea followed Xiaoxing into the circle of spectators and fellow combatants. "Ready?" said Ryoko loudly. "Fight!"

Xiaoxing drew out a length of cord and snapped it on the ground. "You ready for this?" she teased. Presea only smiled. With a lightning fast snap of her wrist, she whipped the rope at Presea's face. "This'll be fast," mused Asuka. Suddenly an amazed gasp traveled around the circle. Presea had caught the rope.

In her surprise, Xiaoxing still held the cord tightly. Presea swung her arm in a wide arc, throwing Xiaoxing over her shoulder. Xiaoxing managed to land on her feet, but Presea still hung on tenaciously. For a long time, they stared each other down. Then Presea glanced at the ground. _They did say anything else goes_, she thought. With a swift kick, Presea sent a rock flying into Xiao's face. "Ai!" she exclaimed. Blood dripped down from her forehead. "I win," said Presea, pointing at the girl's face with her ax. "Presea wins the round!" shouted Ryoko. Cheering broke out among the circle. "PRE-SE-A!" they chanted.

"Next up, Kratos and Megumi," announced Ryoko. The opponents went into the center of the ring and stood apart from each other. Kratos retained his shield after inspection from Ryoko and was armed with a heavy wooden kendo stick. "Go get 'em, Megu!" yelled Asuka. Megumi smiled and held up her fists. "Go!" shouted Ryoko.

Megumi rolled forward on the ground and attempted an uppercut. Kratos leapt easily over her and dealt her a smack on the rear. He twisted in the air, landed, and watched Megumi get up. Next she tried a jump kick, which Kratos ducked under while dealing another blow to her behind. Megumi winced and rubbed it, wondering how she would break through. Kratos decided to attack. He swung his sword fast, with power, and while it seemed that his attacks were all over the place, Megumi could see that she had to stay where he wanted if she didn't want to get hit. She saw her chance and lunged forward while his shield was raised. Unfortunately, she didn't see his shield come down until it was too late. It struck her on the head and forced her to the ground. She got up, rubbed her head, and to her dismay she felt wetness. "I win," said Kratos, tapping his wet shield with his kendo sword. "Isn't that a cutting edge?" asked Megumi. Ryoko shook her head. "No, it's blunt," she said. "Anything that hits you hard enough in the right way will draw blood. Kratos wins!"

In similar matches, the Shinsengumi and the Symphonians eliminated their competition and then each other, until a representative of each group was left, Yuan and Ryoko. "Final match!" shouted Megumi. "Yuan versus Ryoko! Ready? Fight!"

The two in the center of the circle rushed forward to meet each other. Yuan brought up his long, double bladed wooden sword to meet Ryoko's sword. The weapons hit and bounced off each other. Ryoko tried a punch at Yuan while he was off-balance, but he dodged it and steadied himself. Ryoko slashed and thrusted at Yuan, and he blocked and parried all of her shots. Suddenly her fist shot out again. Yuan had barely enough time to recognize the danger. But it was enough. _It's mine!_ thought Ryoko.

A sudden crack alerted her that something was wrong. Then she realized her fist hurt. A lot. She snatched it back and waved it around. "Ow ow ow!" she said through teary eyes. She stuck her hand in her mouth and sucked on it. Yuan laughed and showed her his weapon. There was a bloody fistprint on it. "I win," he said. She took her hand out of her mouth and looked at it. It was mashed, blood and saliva dripped from it, and splinters penetrated her skin. "Dammit," she grumbled. "You win."

The Shinsengumi came up behind Ryoko, clapping slowly and deliberately. "Well done," said Asuka coolly. "You've mastered the warm-up," said Megumi. "But can you take the test?" finished Ryoko. They stood silently, their heads down and their eyes looking up, aka 'the evil eye.' "Muahahaha!" laughed the girls madly, throwing back their heads.

"Ooookaay," said Genis. "Uhh, what was that about?" Ryoko and her friends couldn't help but laugh at the uncomprehending expressions on everyone's faces. Ryoko calmed down a little and wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, we were just messin' with you," she said. "But really, first-blood is a warm-up type thing for us. We were going to go fight some longer and more intense battles. You're welcome to come, of course..."

She let the offer hang in the air. Kratos turned to the rest of his group. "What do you think?" he asked them. "Shall we? I would like to, at least." "I'm ready," said Genis. "I am too," said Presea. "We're for it," said Yuan and Botta. "Then it's agreed," he said as he turned back to Ryoko. "We'll fight." "Am I allowed to use my magic?" asked Genis with a doubtful expression on his face. "I really wouldn't recommend it," said Ryoko uneasily. "It could cause you a lot of trouble." "Damn!" grumbled Genis. "Oh well. I'll still go." Ryoko smiled. "Good!" she said. "Let's go then. This way. Follow me!"

She sprinted off down an alleyway, followed by her team and the Symphonians. They followed the agile girls down a maze of streets ands passages, tunnels and buildings. Soon they found the women stopped before a large dome-shaped building. "Ready?" asked Ryoko. Kratos nodded.

"Then here we go!"

Ryoko threw open the double doors in front of her, and immediately was assaulted by the noise of rock music, screaming fans, and blaring loudspeakers. The smell of blood and alcohol never failed to pump Ryoko up for a battle. "I've called in and added you to the list," she said over the din of the arena. "The way it works is its basically a tournament, but with special rules. Each fight has different rules, which they'll tell you right before the match begins. You have one minute to choose a representative from your group to fight that round. If you win, your whole team advances. If you lose, you're out. The last battle is a team fight. Got it?" Kratos nodded when he received the assent of the others.

"Well, then, come on," she said, jerking her head towards the inside. They all stepped in and took a good look around. All around them were rows and rows of seats; there had to be at least twenty thousand seats here. In the center was a clay court for fighting, on which stood a teenaged girl giving her pre-fight report. "-and also a new team, never before seen in any K-Fights!" she was saying. Kratos eyed her with interest.

The floor seats had been removed, for obvious reasons. There was now only a ten-foot drop down a concrete wall between the onlookers and the fighting grounds. The stadium was packed tonight, and from what Kratos gathered, it was partly because of their presence, but mostly because of Ryoko's. He remembered her words from so long ago, and thought them true; they really did love her. She was this city's champion. _Perhaps not for this night_, he allowed himself to think. _But then I'll give her back._

"This round will be a fist fight," explained Megumi. "In this fight, you are not allowed to use weapons other than your bare hands. The only parts of your body allowed to touch your opponent are your hands. No crotch hits. Are you clear?" Kratos, representing the group, nodded. "Good," said Megumi. "Then choose your fighter. You're up." After discussing it briefly, Kratos was elected to fight this round. _I feel sorry for whoever has to fight me_, he thought mournfully. _Not because of the pain of my hits, but for the painful brevity._ Kratos unbuckled his sword and sheath and set them aside. He was wearing his traditional attire, from which he removed the flaring shoulderpads and trailing tails. To assure the judges of his honesty, he also took off his gloves, though he couldn't imagine what harm they could possibly hide.

"Are both sides ready?" asked the announcer. Kratos nodded when she looked at him. She looked to her other side and seemed to get the same response. "Then will the two combatants please step forward and join me in the center."

Kratos walked over to the commentator and looked down at her. "What's your name and team name?" she whispered, covering the microphone. "Kratos," he replied. "I'm with, ah..." He hadn't expected to come up with a team name, so he just thought up one on the spot. He was going to say 'The Renegades', but to him it sounded too ordinary, too fighteresque, something a bunch of no-skill punks would come up with. Which, as he reflected, was exactly what he had thought of the Renegades when he learned of their existence. "Catharsis," Kratos said. He wondered if anyone thought it was humorous, but with this sort of crowd, he doubted it. Yet you never knew...

She nodded and asked his opponent the same question. When she was satisfied, she uncovered the mike and yelled into it. "On this side," she announced, waving at his opponent, "we have the dreaded Yamuda from the Renegades!" _Damn good thing I didn't go with that name_, thought Kratos. "And on this side," shouted the girl, "we have, from the unheard-of team Catharsis, the mysterious Kratos!" There were many cheers for both combatants, but Kratos ignored them. He noted, with exasperation, that his opponent loved the attention. _I am not really fit to be a teacher_, thought Kratos, _but when one needs a lesson in humility and maturity, one needs it right away!_

"FIGHT!" screamed the commentator.

The 'fight' lasted five seconds. It consisted of Kratos dodging his enemy's fist and smashing his own into Yamuda's face. Yamuda was down instantly, and he did not get back up. "Uh, the round goes to Catharsis," said the commentator/judge, more than a little stunned. Kratos said nothing, only walked back to the rest of his group in the absolute silence of the stadium. He sat down.

Suddenly the audience went wild. "KRA-TOS! KRA-TOS!" they screamed. He allowed a smile to escape from his stony face, and he gave a small wave to the crowd. They loved it and went even wilder. "That was a surprise," said Genis. "What was?" asked Kratos. Genis shrugged. "Everything," he said, when he thought about it. Kratos smiled again and shook his head. "I like the name," said Presea. "It is fitting." "It's a good name," said Genis. "Although I'm not sure who here besides us, the Shinsengumi, and maybe the judges, will get it." Kratos shrugged. "Do they have to?" he asked. "I guess not," said Genis after a moment. "It's a good name whether you understand the humor or not," said Yuan. "It's very cool."

"Humph," said Kratos. He folded his arms over his chest and fell silent.

After a number of rounds it was Shinsengumi's turn. This fight was a sword duel to a KO or a surrender. Naturally, Ryoko went up. Naturally, she won. Then it was Catharsis' turn again.

"This round will be a staff round!" announced the young commentator. "The only thing that can touch your opponent is your staff. This fight is a five hit match. Once someone has been hit five times, the game is over! Who will be representing Catharsis and the Necromancers?" Kratos, Botta, Presea, and Genis looked at Yuan. "What!" he exclaimed. "I'll do it, of course. All you had to do was say so!"

Yuan took off his cloak and set it aside. Someone called at him and tossed him a long shaft of hardwood. Yuan examined it as he walked up beside the announcer. "My name is Yuan," he said when she asked for his name. "This fight is between Yuan, from team Catharsis," she declared, "and Azumi, of the Necromancers. Contestants, ready! Fight!"

Yuan gripped his staff tightly and held it at the ready. The girl across from him couldn't have been more than eighteen, and she had a smile across her face. Eyeing her with a smirk of his own, Yuan began his attack.

He lunged to the left and Azumi followed, as he thought. Her right shoulder was unguarded, and he could easily-WHAM!

Yuan staggered, completely caught off guard. He hadn't even seen her move and she had smacked him in the face. _So that's how she's gonna play_, he thought, and smiled again. _I've got to do this fast and hard if it's gonna work._ There was one move Yuan had learned some time ago, and he had few opportunities to test it, but if it he succeeding in completing it, he would almost certainly win...

Yuan took a deep breath, and exhaled. He adjusted his grip and stared intensely at his opponent, her body still as a tree. _They never said anything about touching her staff_, he thought suddenly, realizing his chance. "Heh," he said softly. Perhaps he wouldn't need his move after all. All he had to do was see her attack. If he could do that, it would easy from there.

Yuan noticed a movement in her posture and prepared to do this. Azumi came at him and thrust her rod at his face. _Too easy_, thought Yuan as he dodged it. His hand lashed out and grabbed the girl's staff. Azumi's face twisted in surprise at this unexpected move. She tried to shake him off, but he held on tenaciously. The audience was silent, wondering what would happen. Satisfied she was holding on tight enough, Yuan shifted his position so that his back was to Azumi. Then, dropping his staff and clutching the pole with two hands, he pressed on the rod and lifted the girl over his head. Yuan shifted his grip and slammed her down into the ground with all his might. With a quick flip of his foot his staff was back in his hand. Azumi lay a few feet away, dizzy from the impact. Yuan took a few steps closer and poked her firmly in the side five times.

There was silence. Yuan glanced at the commentator, whose mouth was agape, and spread his hands. The girl snapped her mouth shut. "Victory for Catharsis!" she yelled, regaining her composure.

It all came down to this. Catharsis and the Shinsengumi won all their matches, meaning they would be the two finalists. Both knew it would be hard to fight friends, but they all also knew the other was expecting their best, regardless. The final team battle had no rules, barring only edged weapons (and guns, of course), and ending when one team surrendered or was knocked out.

Genis stepped up next to Kratos and took a deep breath. Before Genis could think, the fight began. Almost immediately he sensed something was wrong. As he fought alongside his teammates, he couldn't shake the feeling of wrongness, of something not right. No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn't tell what it was. However, he thought he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

One of the very first things Genis had learned in his training as a mana user was the fundamental difference between all forms of life. Every life form had a certain signature, a unique kind of mana all their own. In time, Genis learned how to distinguish between half-elves and humans, and elves when he finally met them, without even looking at them. He was nearly on the verge of fine-tuning his skills so he could do the same with non-sentient beings, such as animals, or even plants. But nevertheless, it was easy to tell what species a sentient was, which was why it was a bit of a shock to him when the Arbiter arrived. Genis knew humans, half-elves, and elves, of course, but when introduced to an entirely new species, it was a bit disturbing for him. The otherworldly Sword Dancer and the monsters of the evil book were somewhat surprising, since Genis felt nothing of them, probably due to their origin or structure. But on the first day the Arbiter introduced himself, Genis had been caught so off guard he nearly shouted. It was that noticeable.

Genis felt the same thing here. It felt the same as when the Arbiter first came to them, when Genis had first felt the presence of something sentient that had no human or elven blood in it. Since he had never met whatever species this person was, Genis could not name it, nor give it a place of origin. All he could tell was that it bespoke pure evil, something no other sentient had ever done, not even Abyssion. Even he had had some good in him. But whatever this thing was, it was born of evil, and evil was its intent.

Genis was so wrapped up in his thoughts he nearly forgot about the battle at hand. He scolded himself for doing so, but all the while he remained wary.

The fight lasted a very long time. By the end, the combatants fought feebly, so tired they could barely swing another blow. Genis leaned over on his kendama, and smiled. He had it now: the odd person out was-

A hollow thunk startled Genis, and as he blacked out, he wondered if it knew he knew.

Genis' eyes fluttered open, and a concerned alien face looked down at him. "He's awake," said the Arbiter. Genis shot up, wincing in pain. He rubbed the back of his head where it burned, and tried to remember something important.

He glanced around to see his teammates and the Shinsengumi standing around. Then it hit him; there was a foreigner here. No, that was the Arbiter. Still, something nagged at him...

He shrugged to himself. It probably wasn't important. He'd end up remembering it sooner or later. "So who won?" he asked. "It was a draw," said Kratos. "We both were declared champion." Genis nodded. "Now what?" asked Genis. "I suggest we go home," said Yuan, stifling a yawn. "We've had a long day, and a longer night." Genis looked back up at the Arbiter. "Oh yeah," Genis said. "Why are you here?"

The Arbiter gave his equivalent of a shrug. "I was in the neighborhood, incidentally enough," he said. "Coincidence. Nothing more, really, unless my boss purposely sent me to investigate in the area so that I could tend my young friend's wound of which he had no knowledge." Genis squinted and smiled at him. "Was that a joke?" he asked. The Arbiter laughed softly. "I suppose so," he replied. "You might call it dry and sarcastic, but for reasons beyond my knowledge, my people don't have much of any other sense of humor, unless it be for a cute animal or something. It may interest you to know that one belief shared among the Covenant, or at least my race, is that our Creator has a profound sense of humor, so we try to appreciate it and imitate it at least in some ways."

Presea cocked her head to one side. "I get it," she said after a moment. "I hadn't thought about it, but if there is a Creator, I'd have to agree," remarked Kratos. "I really don't see it," said Megumi. The Arbiter spread his hands. "Well," he said, thinking a moment, "have you ever seen a hamster?" "Uh, yeah," said Megumi, not quite following. "Can you look at one and not laugh or smile?" asked the Arbiter. "It is from His creations that we come to get the notion of a Creator with a sense of humor. How about a chimpanzee? A basset hound? A koala? A long haired cat? Creatures so comical cannot be designed without at least a little humor." Genis nodded and yawned. "Yeah, I get it too," he said tiredly. "Let's go, guys. I'm beat."

Genis started to walk, hoping someone else would start walking so he could follow. Sure enough, they all started to walk down the alley they were in. "I'm just gonna tie my shoes, guys," called Ryoko from the back, bending over. "Go on ahead, I'll be right there." The Arbiter walked next to Genis. Genis opened his mouth to say something when he heard an odd noise come from the Arbiter. Genis turned to see the Arbiter leveling a glowing pistol at Ryoko. Ryoko returned his aim with a gun of her own.

"What's going on!" exclaimed Presea. "This woman drew her weapon on Genis," said the Arbiter grimly. "That's a lie!" said Ryoko. "He turned his gun on me first!" Genis' eyes flicked between them quickly. Then he remembered his dilemma from earlier that he had gotten knocked out of him. It was one of them, for sure, but which one? One of them was lying. Was it Ryoko? Or was it the Arbiter that he had felt during the match?

Genis heard a triple click sort of noise and a silver barrel gleamed above his head in the pale moonlight. Megumi held the revolver, aimed at Ryoko. "That isn't our captain, girls," Megumi said. "Megu," whispered Ryoko. "Don't you know me? I-I can't believe you can't remember who I really am..."

Megumi's face hardened. "I don't know who or what you are," she said, "but don't you ever use that name for me again." She adjusted her aim and squeezed the trigger. The gun flew out of Ryoko's hand. Megumi cocked the gun again, and fired. The bullet went straight through her forehead, and her eyes darkened as she slumped to the ground. Black blood poured out of the wound. "Yuck," said Xiaoxing, covering her eyes.

"Oh, damn, you killed it," said a strange voice. "Well, least I have some idea of where she is." Their heads snapped up to look at a guy hanging upside down from a telephone wire. It was hard to tell in the dark, but he looked no more than twenty. A girl about his age leapt down from a balcony to his right and he followed her. They calmly walked over and stooped over the dead body. "Ooh, quite a nice copy," said the girl. "Too nice," said the guy. "If there are any more this high quality it'll be too difficult to eyeball it and we'll have to rely on technology or other tests." "There were some flaws, of course," said the girl, "but still, far more accurate than we anticipated. I knew we couldn't hope for their technology to not undergo any advances, but now..."

"Sooooo," said Megumi. The two strangers seemed to notice the other people in the alley for the first time. "Ah, yes," said the woman. "How did you get here?" asked Genis. "Walked," replied the man slowly, puzzled, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You know what I mean," said Genis coolly. "Did you think none of us would notice?" Their faces hardened. "We could very well ask you how you come to be here," said the man, "but now is not the time. Come. You want to get your friend back, don't you?" "Absolutely," Megumi answered, disregarding the odd exchange of half-threatening talk. The two stood up, long dark cloaks whispering behind them. "Then follow us," said the girl. "We can talk on the way."


	5. Chapter 5

"Drink this," said the man, holding out a flask to Presea. "Only a mouthful each; it is very precious and I dare not waste it."

They were at the edge of a forest in southern Japan. They had driven there in what was now referred to as the Catharsis van, and they had walked not a mile into the forest when the newcomers ordered them to a halt.

Presea took the flask, filled her mouth, closed her eyes, tasted it, and swallowed. She sighed. The liquid was thin and thick at the same time, sort of like syrup, but far less sweet, yet more flavorful. It also had somewhat bitter undertastes, and for some reason the unique consistency made her think of quicksilver. Soon she noticed a burning, a hot fire inside, and she felt strength and vigor flow into her body. Clarity came upon her head and removed all drowsiness.

"Mmm," she murmured. "It's like embers within my breast, and energy in my limbs." She opened her eyes, which were clear and bright. "What is this?" she asked. "_Miruvor_," replied the man as Presea passed the flask to Kratos. "The finest elven liquor to be found," added the woman without thinking. "Elven?" said Yuan. The man grabbed her by the shoulders and whispered something scoldingly to the woman. The woman whispered something back, and he seemed to concur with whatever she had said, for he nodded after a moment and released her. "Aye, elven," said the man. "We are both elves, as the young one has noticed. My name is Elemenduil, and this is my wife, Laurelindae. We are from Heimdall, city of the Elves in the world of Tethe'alla. If you hope to find answers in us, your hope is unfounded. We know nothing of the way back to Symphonia, nor do we have any clue as to why we're here. We first came here shortly after you did. When you went missing, it came to us, my wife and I, to find you. We were one of the most vital links in the Mizuho information network; we gathered information from places no one else dared to touch, or could not find. We were their last line of spies, the best in the business.

Naturally, His Highness and Mizuho got us on the case. In a bizarre twist of luck, we were sucked into Earth through some sort of portal. We thought all was lost until we picked up a trail of you. We had nearly caught up when you destroyed the tower. Then in the confusion that followed, we thought we had lost you forever. And then, following a lead on you in the headlines, we headed here, and now, at last, we've found you."

"Why weren't you surprised to see us?" asked Yuan. "Who says we weren't?" asked Laurelindae. "We've merely been trained not to show it. Showing surprise or not is often the determining factor of if things go your way or not." "Sheena probably would know about that," mused Genis. "Sheena Fujibayashi?" asked Elemenduil. Genis nodded. "We've heard tremendous stories about her. Speaking of which, where are the rest of you? We were sent to find eight of you. And I've never seen three of you five before. And the Earthers we of course know nothing about. Perhaps you could fill us in?" Presea smiled. "We'd be glad to," she said.

Zelos breathed deep, and sighed. The heady ocean spray filled his lungs and made him smile. He looked to his left, where Colette leaned against the railing, gazing out at the ocean. She looked at him and smiled. "Having a good time, my darling?" Zelos asked his wife. "Oh, it's great!" said Colette. "It kinda reminds me of Altamira." A deep sigh came from behind them, and they both turned to see Regal standing there, holding drinks in his hands. His eyes were cast downward. "Would you like a drink?" he asked a bit glumly.

"Are you all right, Regal?" asked Colette concernedly. "Yeah, what's up, man?" asked Zelos. Regal closed his eyes. "There's nothing wrong, really," he said. Zelos cocked his head. "Come on," he said. "Anyone can tell you're as blue as the ocean. You can tell us. What's wrong?" Regal opened his eyes and sighed again. "I suppose I'm just a little...homesick...is all," he said at last. "Ah, so that's it," said Zelos. "Missing your old seaside resort, the people you left behind, is that it? Don't worry, dude, I'm sure we'll get back sometime. Besides, our world's years behind this one. Even if we could cross over, we'd have to add time travel in there. One impassible barrier is enough for me. So enjoy this world while you can, Regal."

Regal nodded. "I'll try," he said with a smirk. "Drinks?"

"I see," said Elemenduil, an hour and a few miles later. "So you're not even sure where they are right now?" "No clue," said Genis. "Well, it's really not important," said Laurelindae. "Even if we had found all of you, there's nothing we can do, really, so..."

Elemenduil held up a hand, calling the group to a halt. "We're about fifty yards from the beginning of enemy territory," he whispered. "Be alert, and be ready for a fight. Follow me, do as I do, and don't say a word." With that he started walking again. He extracted a longbow from underneath his cloak and slung a quiver over his shoulder. They stalked through the trees until the wood ended. In a circle roughly a mile in diameter, the normal trees ended, and instead there were planted rows upon rows of olive trees. Elemenduil slowed his pace and bent well below the trees. Carefully, he examined the area as he moved forward. Soon they came to a small metal building. He pointed to the ground, indicating that there was more to the structure underground. Elemenduil surveyed the house and quickly found what he was looking for: a wide, tall shaft leading down and into the building. He lowered himself into it, and fell through. Laurelindae went next, followed by Catharsis and then the Shinsengumi.

They fell for a few dizzying seconds before landing beside Elemenduil, who was already looking for their next move. They were standing in a long room, beginning a few feet behind them and extending about twenty meters in front of them. They stood on a series of immobile conveyor belts. None of them were moving. Everything was still, almost too still. "Follow me, and don't touch anything," Elemenduil warned. They walked behind him as he started down the belts. When they reached the end, they could see that the belts stopped abruptly, so that they would drop off whatever they had on them down into an enormous vat. It was about thirty feet to the bottom. Above the vat they could see a number of devices obviously designed for pounding out the last drop of liquid in whatever was put in their way.

Laurelindae dropped a rope down to the bottom and secured one end to a piece of stationary machinery. They all slid down the rope easily, and once they were all at the bottom of the vat, Laurelindae tugged on the rope twice. It came down instantly and easily. She coiled it up as Elemenduil looked for a way out. He found one on the floor. It was a circular screen, about four feet in diameter, made of a fine but strong mesh. Elemenduil attempted to break it, but it neither bent nor tore. "Let's try this," said Presea, remembering the Arbiter's gift. She produced the small black tube and followed the Arbiter's instructions.

With a _pop_ like that of a miniature lightning bolt, the energy blade materialized around her hand. She kneeled down next to the screen and plunged the sword into one end. It sliced easily through the mesh, which she pulled out of the hole once the circle was finished.

Elemenduil peered down into the darkness. "Well, we've come this far by plunging head first," he said. "Let's go!" With that he jumped down into the hole. After a few moments of hesitation, the others followed, one by one. Presea was last. She took a deep breath, let it out, and dropped down.

For a few fast seconds she slid speedily down a curved tube. It was pitch black and she became completely disoriented. Finally she sensed she came out into a wide space. She fell for a moment, and landed in liquid. "Ugh," she said as she emerged out of the stuff. "Tell me about it," came Genis' voice. "What _is _this stuff?"

Presea bent over and sniffed the knee-high substance, which meant it was about waist-high for her. "It's olive oil," she said, puzzled. "Well, that might explain it," said Kratos. "What do you mean?" asked Genis. "Instead of relying on usual lubricants that they would have to purchase from the outside world, this facility grows olives and uses their oil to grease their machinery," explained Kratos. "It would seem that this is one of their storage containers. It's fortunate we all landed in the same place. I have the feeling that same tube system could have led many different places. I think the large vat we were in previously was used for extracting the oil. The oil then runs down into, presumably, several large containers, where it is stored until needed. I did not see any other exits from that vat, so the crushed olives probably went down that same tube, but with the tube paths manipulated so that they went to another place: wherever they dispose of their waste material. It could have been very bad if they left the network in that position. In any case, we're all here, so, let's get some light, and then let's find our next move."

There was a rustling sound, then a few snaps, and then a noise like something being shaken. A waving bar of green light began to glow, and a dim light began to fill the space. Kratos was holding the glowing bar, which he then stopped shaking. "What is that, Kratos?" asked Presea. "It's a glow stick," answered Kratos. "Once when we were out shopping, I discovered these devices. By bending them, you release a seal inside the tube that allows two compounds to mix. When they react with each other, they produce light as a by-product. I shook it so that the chemicals would mix better." "Cool!" said Genis.

"So," said Megumi, "does anyone see a way out?" There was a brief silence, then the Arbiter spoke. "There," he said, pointing up at the curving wall. Indeed, there was something. An area of stress fractures could be seen about halfway up the cylinder. "It's not much," he said while searching his belt, "but it might work. Do I have your permission to create an opening?" Elemenduil frowned. "Will it be loud?" he asked.

The Arbiter shrugged in the manner of his species. "The grenade exploding will create about as much noise as, say, a rubber ball would, if I threw it at the wall," he said. Elemenduil shrugged. "Well, I guess we don't have much choice," he conceded, "but everyone get ready to fight. And what kind of grenade are you talking about, anyway?" The Arbiter held out a tennis ball sized orb in his hand. It faintly glowed blue. "Plasma," he said, and pushed on the sphere. It immediately flared brightly and gases of an electric blue color poured out of it. The Arbiter aimed carefully and hurled the grenade at the cracks, where it stuck. The group held their weapons at the ready, anxiously waiting on the grenade. It exploded, throwing off a large cloud of the blue gas, and when it cleared, there was a good-sized hole in the wall.

Hastily they exited the container to find themselves in a dimly lit area. Its ceiling could not be seen, but behind them they saw five huge tanks, one of which they had just come out of. They were each about forty feet tall, and above them a few red lights glowed. Elemenduil scanned the area quickly. To their left was a metal staircase with a heavy steel door at the top. It appeared to be the only way out, so Elemenduil took them up the stairs and before the door. He pressed his ear against the door. "There's two beings beyond this door," he whispered. "One on each side of the door. I'll enter and take them out as fast as I can, and then you rush inside and secure the area; make sure no one else sees us. Ready?" He stepped back from the door and drew two long daggers from sheaths on his belt. He held them out to his sides and took a deep breath. Then he kicked in the door and sprang through. The door swung to the left and hit one of the guards. The other one, a tall, nasty looking humanoid, barely had time to look to his left before Elemenduil's knife sliced through its neck. Elemenduil whirled to his left. The other guard was almost on his feet when Elemenduil threw one of his knives into its face.

The others came in and checked the area while Elemenduil retrieved his dagger. He sheathed his blades and turned to Kratos. "No one saw," Kratos informed him. "Eeew, what are these things?" asked Xiaoxing, indicating the guards. "They're what humans in our world call goblins," Laurelindae said. "They're called _yrch_ in elven-tongue, or Orcs in the speech of humans and half-elves. They were once elves, before they were corrupted by powerful evils, such as Nebilim, or the creatures that were found in the Niflheim."

"We've wasted too much time already," said Elemenduil gravely. "Let's keep moving."

Quickly they darted down the hallways and past guards. Elemenduil would stop every few minutes, cock his head as if listening, look around in all directions, and then lead them on again. After an hour or so of doing this, they halted briefly for another drink and rest in a dimly lit room of off a short corridor. Elemenduil cocked his head again while he sat. Presea asked him what he was doing.

"Well," he said, frowning and standing up, "I keep thinking I hear something like footsteps behind us, but every time I stop the group to hear better and look, it stops, so I'm not sure I'm really hearing it or not. I thought I heard it again just now, but I couldn't tell for certain." He sighed and sat back down. "If I'm going to keep this up we'll take forever to get to Ryoko. And if I'm right, we've still got a ways to go before we reach the area where she's being held."

They rested for a few more minutes, and then Elemenduil called them back up. They went back into the hallway and were walking down towards one end when Presea noticed the ribbon keeping her hair in place had fallen off and drifted to the opposite end of the hallway. "Just a moment," she said. They waited at the doorway they had just reached while she went to retrieve her ribbon. She nearly had it when Kratos frowned and put his hand to his sword. "Something isn't right," he whispered. She bent over to pick it up. He ran towards her with a cry of, "DON'T!"

It was too late. She picked it up and a hidden metal door fell down from the ceiling and cut Kratos and the others off from Presea. She whirled in time to see a massive claw lunge at her and grab her around the abdomen. She looked down in horror and saw the massive slab of a hand gripped her from her chest to her waist. She looked up and saw the owner of the hand, a gigantic Orc the size of a tree. It was dressed in a suit of black armor and an iron helm that protected its head but still showed its jagged, yellow, grinning teeth. It lifted her in the air and began to squeeze. Presea gasped as air was forced out of her lungs and enormous pressure began to contract her insides. She shoved on the hand with both hands, but as strong as she was, its grip was stronger.

It squeezed harder. Presea coughed hoarsely and let out a sharp cry as she felt a rib snap. The Orc grunted in amusement and redoubled its efforts. Another rib snapped, Presea's vision began to grow dim, and her head swam. _It can't end this way_, she thought desperately. _But there's only one chance..._

She mustered all her strength and shoved as hard as she could on the grotesque hand. It didn't move much, but it was enough. She stuck her left arm down into her belt and pulled out the knife on her belt. Gripping it in her palm, she plunged it into the wrist of the beast and pulled down, slicing through muscle and tendon. The Orc bellowed in rage and pain. With a mighty sweep of its arm it threw Presea from its now limp hand. She slammed into the hard stone wall, cracking the rock. Presea fell to the ground face first and gasped for air. It rushed into her lungs and she coughed as oxygen returned to her bloodstream. The darkness receded a little from her vision, but still she lay, broken and helpless, before a very angry monster.

The steel door caved in under the combined barrage of the people behind the door. Megumi ran over to Presea and took her in her arms. Kratos saw the girl and growled deep in his throat. "You shall pay for your crimes now," he said coldly as he drew his sword.

Clutching the hilt in two hands, he yelled and rushed the Orc. It swept its good arm at him, and he leapt on top of it. Running up the trunk like limb, he reached the beast's neck and swung his sword with all his might. The blade bit deep into the Orc's neck. Kratos pulled it out and hewed at it again and again, until finally its ugly head rolled off its shoulders and onto the ground. Pitch black blood gushed from the severed neck, drenching Kratos' feet. He jumped to the floor as the body toppled over with a loud thud.

Laurelindae took the injured girl into her arms and examined her, fear in her eyes. She felt the girl; the number of broken bones her fingers found frightened Laurelindae. A glazed look had come into the girl's eyes, and her breathing was labored. Her face was pale, and her clothes stained. Laurelindae was nonetheless relieved. "She will live," she was glad to say, "but we must tend to her as soon as possible. We must hurry and get Ryoko, so that we may leave. Here, Genis, please carry her. I know it may be hard for you, but I must be ready for close range combat, a martial art you are not terribly good at, I'm afraid." Laurelindae gave Presea's limp body into Genis' arms.

Grief filled his eyes as he looked into hers. "Presea," he whispered sorrowfully. "I should have taken better care of you. I'm sorry..." Presea had enough mind to smile. "I am sorry as well," she whispered back. "I have made you worry. I do not wish this to make anyone feel bad." Genis shook his head. "We should worry," he said. "It gives us a reason to accomplish our goals. And, it means we love you. Grief comes because something bad happens to someone you don't want it to happen to. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, and that's why I feel grief. Because I love you." Presea smiled. "Thank you, Genis," she said. "Come, Genis," said Kratos gently.

Genis went in the middle of the group, since he was unable to fight, and the others guarded him from the front and the rear. Presea coughed weakly, a sound that filled Genis with dread. "Am I going to die?" she asked Genis. Genis swallowed, trying to force down the lump in his throat. "No," he whispered, hoping it was true. "There's no reason to be afraid," he said, as much trying to convince Presea as himself. "Yes there is," Presea whispered slowly. "Lloyd once told me it is good to be afraid to die, because that means you love life. I am afraid to die, and I am not ashamed. I hope you fear death, too, Genis." Genis nodded, and bit his lip. "Yes I am afraid," he whispered. "I am very afraid." Presea closed her eyes and sighed. "Good," she whispered, before losing consciousness.

The next thing Presea was aware of was light on her eyelids, soft sheets on her body, and the faraway sound of people laughing, followed by a soft chuckle from a few feet to her right.

Presea's eyes fluttered open. Golden light spilled into the room from an open window to her left. Her sore eyes spotted the source of the laughter: a television set mounted to the ceiling in a corner. Presea's eyes drifted down and to her right. There sat Ryoko, dressed in a blue hospital gown, eating crackers and watching the television. She laughed softly at the bad jokes in the cartoon.

"Ryoko?" whispered Presea tiredly, confused. Ryoko looked over and smiled. Her eyes glimmered happily. "Presea!" she said, leaning forward on her bed. "I'm so glad to see you awake and well! I heard what happened to you. It must have been awful." Her smile disappeared and a worried look settled on her face. "How do you feel?" asked Ryoko. Presea sat up tentatively and poked herself where the Orc had crushed her. "Sore," said Presea. "Otherwise I feel fine. I am not tired, even." Ryoko's warm smile returned. "That's not such a surprise," she said. "You've been asleep for nearly three days." "That long," mused Presea. "I suppose that explains it." Ryoko chuckled. "I suppose so," she said. Ryoko turned the TV off.

"What happened to you, though?" asked Presea, now fully awake. Ryoko shrugged. "Nothing I couldn't take," she said. "They tried torture to find get some information out of me, but I didn't give in. Eventually they started beating me for fun, and once they started to do something sexual, but, ah, hm. Well, let's just say I got a couple opportunities to get back at them. They never tried anything like that more than once. Anyhow, it wasn't too bad, and at the time you rescued me, I think I still had at least another week in me, at the rate it as going. Mind you, I was still really glad to get out of there." Presea shook her head, disgusted.

"Where are the others?" asked Presea after a moment. Ryoko shrugged. "They stop by every day around four or five, to check up on us," she explained. "Genis offered to stay by your side the whole time, but they managed to convince him otherwise." Presea smiled. "That was nice of him," she said. Ryoko smiled. "You're lucky to have a boy like that," she said. "Especially under your, ah, circumstances. Do you feel the same way for him?" Presea nodded. "I love him very much," she said. "I am glad I have him." Ryoko nodded slowly. "I would be too," she said softly, almost to herself.

Absently, Ryoko tugged at her gown. "Augh," she said in disgust. She untied he cords keeping it together and pulled it off. She tossed it in a corner and sighed in relief. "I don't know what the hell those things are made of," she said, "but they are annoying. The nurses insist I wear one, but they are just so itchy and ill fitting...it's horrible. Besides, being naked is a lot more fun!"

Presea raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "I agree with you," she said. "These are very uncomfortable, but I don't think I can reach with my sore body." "Here," said Ryoko. She rose from her bed and knelt beside Presea. She untied the strings and helped her take it off. Presea laid back and sighed, pulling up the covers. Ryoko sat down on top of Presea's bed. "You're not going to sleep, are you?" asked Ryoko. "I thought you said you weren't tired!" Presea sat up again. "I know, but what else can I do?" she asked. "Well, you got me there," Ryoko said. "Hospitals are kinda boring. All you've got are visits and TV. Visits are short and in this case, few and far between, and daytime TV is pretty dumb. We could always talk, but I'm not really sure what to say..."

She trailed off, and looked down. Ryoko trailed her finger along the folds in the sheets. Presea gazed at Ryoko. It was quite a feat; Ryoko said she had been beaten and tortured, but any wounds she bore were gone or fading quickly from her body. The medicine of Earth was rather good. She still believed Symphonia's was better, but without gels and healing arts using mana, it was impressive indeed.

Suddenly there was a noise at the door, and the knob began to turn. Ryoko swore and dove back into bed. "It's the nurse, hide!" she hissed to Presea. They both pulled up their covers just as the nurse entered the room, bearing a tray laden with unappetizing food. "Here you are, girls," she said, setting down plates on the moveable trays next to their beds. "You should eat it before it goes bad." _Before? _thought Ryoko. "Anything else I can get you?" asked the nurse. They shook their heads. The nurse seemed satisfied and headed out the door. Ryoko breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close," she said. Presea nodded.

Ryoko got up again and strode aimlessly about the room. "Why don't you tell me how you were rescued?" asked Presea finally. Ryoko shrugged. "I don't know much about it," she admitted. She sat down on Presea's bed on her knees and leaned back, thinking. "All I remember was waking up to see your gang bust up the guards in my room," she recalled, "and then there was the escape to the surface. But that was confusing, just a lot of running through hallways and knocking down anyone in the way. However," she said with a smile, "they did fill me in. It seems that after that monster attacked you, you were in pretty bad shape and they were debating whether or not to return to the surface or get me. Finally they chose to come get me. It turns out I was closer than they thought, so they grabbed me and ran like hell for the surface. The interesting part, though, was that none of them would have found me had it not been for you." Presea blinked. "What do you mean?" she asked, leaning forward with curiosity.

"Well," said Ryoko, leaning forward as well, getting into it, "my holding cell was in a kind of hidden spot, and it just so happened that, for some reason, you took off a pendant off your neck and threw it down. Genis noticed and picked it up. When he did, light from a single overhead bulb caught the crystal and sent a beam over to a dark corner. The beam shone directly on a barely visible keyhole, which glinted in the light. They examined it and decided to investigate, and lo and behold, there I am! Now, some might say that was a chance accident," at this point she leaned in close to Presea and lowered her voice to a whisper, "but I have a feeling it was more than that." She stared into Presea's eyes.

"You knew that was going to happen." Ryoko stared at Presea. Presea could feel her warm breath on her face. Ryoko's piercing eyes seemed to peer into her soul. Abruptly Ryoko's face was split by a huge grin. Presea lifted an eyebrow. "Huh?" she said, totally confused. "Sorry," said Ryoko, wiping away a tear. "I just love to mess around with people like that." Presea chuckled. "You're really good at that, you know?" she said dryly.

Abruptly the door opened. Ryoko whirled her head to see the nurse walk in, head down, looking over a notebook. "Sorry, I almost forgot to-" she began, then looked up and broke off. Her eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her hips. Ryoko grinned brokenly at the nurse. "Ah, yeah," Ryoko said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"Ryoko Mitsurugi!" the nurse exclaimed. "How many times must I tell you!" Ryoko got up and held out her hands. "Come on nurse, it's just-" she began before the nurse cut her off. "And now look!" she said, walking over to Presea and pointing at her. "You've got the child doing it too! What kind of example is that! You should be asham-" There was a loud _thwack_! and the nurse stopped talking. Her eyes glazed over and she pitched forward onto Presea's bed. Ryoko stood right behind where the nurse had been standing with her arm outstretched to right where the nurse's head had been.

"Ryoko!" exclaimed Presea. Ryoko shrugged. She took a glass of water off her tray and spilled some on the floor. Then she dragged the nurse's foot through it. "We'll say she slipped and fell," said Ryoko simply. Presea sighed, and lay back again. "Whatever," she said.

The next thing Presea knew she was opening her eyes again. The light had gotten dimmer, and it looked to be around five or so. She looked around and saw Ryoko sitting on her own bed, staring blankly at the door. She was wearing the hospital garment, but she wasn't happy about it. Presea found that she too was wearing one. Ryoko noticed she was awake.

"Good, you're up," she said. "They'll be by soon." "Who?" asked Presea, stretching. "Everybody," said Ryoko, gesturing vaguely. "You know, my gang, your gang, the whole lot of 'em. Said they're going to release us today, and that we were going to go somewhere, just to relax." Presea nodded. Her hand went to her chest, feeling for the Arbiter's stone, but there was only her Exsphere and her decorative Key Crest around her throat; the chain was not there. She hadn't thought to check for it before. "Where is my necklace?" asked Presea. Ryoko stared at her, then shook her head. "Sorry," she said. "I think Genis still has it. Ask him about it when they come." "And when will they be here?" inquired Presea. Ryoko shrugged. "Any minute now," she said. "They said five thirty, and according to that clock it's just now five twenty-eight. So..."

Presea nodded and turned away, gazing out a nearby window. The red-orange sun blazed low in the sky, setting the entire city alight in a fiery glow. Presea sighed and rested her head on her hand. "What's on your mind?" asked Ryoko. "A lot of things occupy my thoughts," admitted Presea, "but foremost is one concern that you brought to my attention today." Presea looked back to see Ryoko roll her hand in the air, indicating that she should go on. "And that concern is...?" she said, waiting for Presea to finish it. Presea sighed.

"You know," she said. "About, ah, growing..." Ryoko couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry," she said between giggles, "it's just the way you say it. Yeah, yeah, I can see why you say that." Ryoko took a finger and pulled her own smock away from her body. She peered down her shirt. "Literally, I can." Presea smiled. Ryoko let it snap back and looked up at the ceiling. "You may have a lot to learn, but nothing to be afraid of," she said at last.

"Actually, um, Zelos has pretty much taught me everything," said Presea. Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Of course _he_ did," she muttered. "But the fact remains, you have nothing to worry about. It's all natural, it happens to every girl, and I guarantee you'll make it through, no problem. Should you ever need advice, just ask me, or one of your older female companions. They'll help you out. They went through just what you're going through."

Presea nodded in acknowledgement. "Just out of curiosity," ventured Presea, "what change did you have the most trouble with? Which one did you not like, or liked the least?" Ryoko scratched her head. "I guess it was the hair," she said at last. "It starts growing in new places, and for me, I didn't really like having to keep up with it. However, once I accepted it, I could just shave my legs and underarms and be satisfied." Presea nodded again. "I notice you don't now," said Presea, "but did you ever-" "Yes," said Ryoko, cutting her off with a laugh. "But it was annoying and just another hassle, so I stopped." "Uh huh," said Presea. She looked down. "Still seems kind of strange," Presea said. Ryoko waved her hand in dismissal. "You'll get used to it," she assured her.

Just then a knock came at the door. "Come in," called Ryoko. Megumi opened the door tentatively. "Hi," she said. She swung the door open wide and the rest of their friends came in. Genis ran over to Presea and hugged her tightly. Presea winced and hugged him back. "I'm so glad to see you!" he exclaimed tearfully. "I'm glad you're glad," said Presea, "but please be gentle. I am hurt, Genis." Genis let go of her and smiled. "Ha," he said. "What is it?" asked Presea. Genis shrugged. "I-I don't know," he said. "It's just that, I always wanted to take care of you, and you were always strong, so strong, that you never needed anyone's help. And now that you do, it's, it's just kind of funny..."

He trailed off, shrugged, and laughed again. Presea laughed back at him. One by one the rest of them expressed their relief for Presea, and gave her small gifts. Ryoko had no gift, so she just hugged her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Genis," said Presea suddenly. "Huh?" said Genis. "Where is my necklace?" she asked. "Oh yeah!" he said, digging in his pocket. He produced the chain with the Arbiter's stone on it, as well as a piece of paper. "These are for you," he said. Presea thanked him, took the items, put on the chain, and opened the note. The paper was unlike any she had felt before. It was soft as velvet but would not wrinkle or tear (for she tried later). Not only that, when it was folded and unfolded, no detectable creases were left. Presea began to read the flowing script, which seemed to be burned into the paper, to herself.

_Dear Presea_, it read.

_I have been hard at work, and I regret I was not able to visit you during your convalescence, even if you would not have known I was present. My work is reaching what appears to be a final climax. If we can accomplish a few more goals, my duty with these people may be done-for now, at least. I wish you a fast and pleasant recovery. I may not see you soon, but you may hear, so to speak, from me before then. I've sent something to your house. I hope you enjoy it. It should arrive on Friday morning, around nine o'clock or so. _

_ Sincerely,_

_The Arbiter_

_P.S. Do NOT tell anyone anything regarding my work, nor let anyone read this message. Take my advice, and burn this letter as soon as you can. It will be safer that way. Our enemies are not to be underestimated. They could learn more from my words and this sheet of paper than you would believe. _

Presea set down the sheet of paper. "He told me not to read it," said Genis. "Can you tell me what it says?" Presea smiled. "Just for me to get well," she lied. "Only in more words." Genis smiled. "Good," he said. "Are you up for leaving?"

Ryoko clapped her hands together. "You bet we are!" she said. "So, where are we going?"

They were going, as it happened, to a nightclub. This seemed to present a problem to Genis and Presea, but Zelos assured them it was all right. "Goddess knows what he's got up his sleeve," whispered Genis to Presea. She had to agree. Zelos was known to pull off some pretty amazing stunts. Presea remembered with a smile how he devised a way to pull down a huge tree using only a knife, a few wet cloths, and a kendama.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Genis. "Were you thinking about the kendama and the tree?" asked Presea. "Actually I was thinking about the plungers, the spiders, and the underwear," said Genis. "Now _that_ was something!" said Presea with a laugh. "Hey, I heard that!" complained Zelos. "You're only laughing 'cause I fell off three times! But it worked fine other than that!" "What about the old guy?" asked Genis. Zelos shuddered. "Don't remind me," he said, shaking his head.

The group of friends stopped before a black building with a bright neon sign over it and a long awning in front. A line of people snaked around the sidewalk, kept in order by velvet ropes and big bouncers. A deep beat could be felt emanating from the club. Zelos went over to the closest bouncer, a massive black man, and whispered in his ear. The bouncer glanced over at the others and nodded. He pointed at Genis and Presea and said something to Zelos. Zelos said something back to him. He seemed satisfied and nodded to Zelos, who waved for them to come over.

The bouncer lifted up the rope and let them pass before putting the rope back down and beginning to check names again. Zelos led them to the bar area while they followed, casually surveying their environment. Zelos stopped and hugged an Asian girl who sat at a barstool. She stood up and smiled. "Hello, you are Zelos' friends, yes?" she said, her accent thick. "That's right," said Regal. "Then welcome to my club," she said with a bow. "My name is Yumi. If you need anything, please ask and I'll do my best to help." "Thanks, Yumi," said Zelos, winking at her. She smiled at him. Suddenly her attention was drawn to her waist; her pager had gone off. She read the scrolling text. "Please excuse me," she said apologetically. "I'm afraid I've got some business to attend to. Have fun!"

With that she walked briskly to a door behind the bar and disappeared from sight. "So that's it?" said Sheena. "You know the owner?" "Bingo!" said Zelos. "I guess your chest _isn't_ the only part of you that's well-endowed! Not too long after we arrived in this city I took the liberty of finding all the best spots for everything in this city and attaching myself to them. Figured it might come in handy." "That's a great idea, especially coming from you," said Lloyd. "I'll take that as a compliment," said Zelos. "Anyway, it never hurts to be prepared."

"What'll it be?" came a voice from behind the bar. They turned to see a well-groomed Australian man set down a glass he had been cleaning and lean forward on the bar. "What?" asked Sheena. "Come now," he said. "Bunch of young blokes like you are obviously here to have a good time! Don't usually do that without something t'drink, even if it ain't alcoholic. Speakin' a'which, how old are all a'you? Don't think some of you are old enough, if my eyes haven't completely failed me..."

They looked at each other and shrugged. "Just to be safe, none of us will have alcohol," said Zelos. "Besides, you don't need it to have fun." The man smiled. "Aye, that's definitely true," he said. "Don't suppose it'd interest you t'know I don't drink?" "Really?" said Raine. "Yep," said the bartender, "haven't had a drop for yea's. Don't really care for the stuff, and I know what kind of problems it can cause. But I just love being a bartender. Wouldn't rather do anything else." "How fascinating..." murmured Raine, a familiar gleam creeping into her eyes. "Oh no," said Lloyd, "not tonight, Professor. We're just here to _relax_." The glow faded, and she turned to Lloyd. Raine smiled. "You're right," she said. "Sorry."

At some point during the evening it began to rain. Although no one else seemed to notice it, with the scent of rain came something subtler, something hardly perceptible, so faint that Yuan wasn't sure he actually sensed it at first. Perhaps it was a hint of a forgotten aroma, the glint of a vaguely familiar image on glass, or maybe it was just a feeling. Whatever it was, Yuan became surer of it and felt compelled to follow it.

Yuan stood up and excused himself from the bar. He passed the dance floor, where couples were sharing an intimate number. As Yuan watched the lovers, his heart ached, longing for the touch of the one that had left him behind. Could it be...?

He strode outside and breathed deeply. Now it was unmistakable: he knew that smell, rich as the earth and sweet as the wind. He ran out into the pounding rain, not heeding the sheets of water falling on him. He followed his nose, seeking what he thought was lost. The distinct scent grew ever stronger, until Yuan was nearly high off of it.

She was here, somewhere, he knew.

He stopped and panted, trying to catch his breath. He looked around, trying to spot her, but he could see no trace of her. He was standing in an alley between two tall buildings, with nothing but cement around him. No, she wouldn't be here. She loved the earth...

A patch of green caught Yuan's eye. Just a few yards away the building on his left ended, and he could see the signs of a garden beyond. Hardly daring to believe, he crept over to the edge of the building, and then, with a deep breath, he stepped out.

He froze, awestruck. There, in the garden, amongst young trees, dancing in the rain, was his one and only true love-Martel.

Yuan dropped to his knees. Martel wore no clothes, but if anything, they would have detracted from her beauty. Gracefully her lithe, slender body moved and twisted in the rain. Droplets of water glistened as they ran down her skin. Martel's pale green hair shone as if with moonlight, though the clouds covered the sky. Yuan watched her dance with a smile on her face and her eyes closed, and wondered what was real.

The moment seemed to stretch forever, and if it had actually done so, Yuan would not have minded. The edges of his vision blurred, and before he knew what was happening, he was sobbing uncontrollably, his body racked with spasms and his mind reeling.

Suddenly he felt arms around him and he opened his red eyes. Martel's kind eyes looked sadly into his own. "We meet again, yet you are sad?" her melodic voice, lost for thousands of years, said. Yuan opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. The lump in his throat made speech impossible. He closed his mouth, and his lips trembled. He tried to blink back tears, but they escaped anyhow. Her eyes saddened even deeper. "I think I understand," she whispered. Yuan opened his mouth again, but again nothing happened. "Don't try to speak," she said softly. "Just relax, and let me see your mind."

She closed her eyes and drew him into herself. Yuan shut his eyes and exhaled a long held breath. Her hands worked their way into his hair. "What have you been through?" she whispered.

Suddenly his memories began to flood through his mind, from the time Martel died, to the formation of the Renegades, to the reuniting of the worlds, to this very moment. Martel's eyes fluttered open. "I am sorry for all the grief that has fallen upon you," she said to him. "But I cannot change the past. I can only help make your future better." She smiled, and Yuan found the strength to attempt to speak again.

"H-how are you here?" he whispered. "Y-y-you-" "Died?" she finished. "Yes, that is true. But my spirit lived on in the Great Seed, and the one that was known as Tabatha became the vessel for the Seed." Yuan was confused. "Then, who are you, really?" he asked. "I thought that Martel was the spirit of the Great Seed and its guardian. The Martel I married was neither of those. And with Tabatha..." Yuan was at a loss for words.

Martel seemed to understand just fine. "I did not use to be the Great Seed, nor its guardian," she said, "but when I was fused with the Great Seed and entered into Tabatha, I took on the role of the guardian." "So are you really the Martel I married, or are you Tabatha, or what?" he asked, still not completely understanding. She smiled again. "That is a difficult question," she said. "The Great Seed had no entity of its own, and needed a vessel, a body, to grow the tree and guard it. When Martel became fused with the Seed, her spirit entered into Tabatha along with the power of the Seed. So, in a sense, I am all three of them, but my consciousness is that of Martel, the one you married. Yes, I am Martel."

Yuan sighed, then glanced at the ground. "But then," he said, "what happened to Tabatha? Is she...gone?" Martel stood up and uttered some word. A lavender dress of a fine, silky material flowed down her body, and a wooden staff with green wings at the top appeared in her hand. She sighed, and leaned on the staff. "She is not gone," Martel said at last, a troubled, preoccupied expression settling on her face. "That is difficult to explain as well. For now, you may think of her as alive in our homeworld. I will tell you the story when we have more time." Yuan's brow furrowed. "We don't have time now?" he asked.

Suddenly something caught the corner of his eye. He turned swiftly and it disappeared as fast as it had appeared. "W-what was that?" he asked. Martel swore in an elven tongue. "We must leave," she said. "Even you, an angel, will not be able to win against these foes. Come to me!" Yuan rushed over to her, and she lifted up her staff. Then, with her eyes shut, she fervently ran through a mana spell. Her voice rose and her eyes flew open with the last word. Yuan glanced back in time to see a black shape lunge at him, just before everything went white.


	6. Chapter 6

"Yuan?" Colette shook her head. "Nope, no idea," she said apologetically. "Sorry." Botta bit his lip.

It was getting to be quite late, and Yuan had not returned from wherever he had gone. Botta was getting nervous, afraid his comrade had had some misfortune befall him. A strong yet gentle hand rested on his shoulder. "Yuan will be fine," said Kratos. "He can take care of himself, probably better than you could. He is an angel, after all. Perhaps his longevity will wane due to choices of his own, but his power will not decrease, at any rate. I'm sure he knows exactly what he's doing."

Yuan had no idea what was going on. Even with his eyes squeezed shut, his head spun and swam dizzyingly. He began to feel sick to his stomach. When he dared to open his eyes, he remembered not what he saw, but whatever it was, it made him even more nauseous. Martel would then quickly brush her fingers over his eyes and he gladly obliged to close them. "Is this it?" whispered Martel.

A boom like that of thunder caused Yuan to open his eyes. All round him was a shimmering yellow disturbance, like the ripples in the air from extreme heat. The shimmering came into focus and appeared to retreat into their bodies. Yuan found himself sitting on a green hillside in the middle of the day, cool grass beneath him, with Martel clinging to his back. "Hmmm," she said.

"Where are we?" asked Yuan. From where he sat, he could see a vast valley stretched out before him, a river of vegetation between banks of snow-capped rock. Martel examined the land. "I don't know," she said at last. "It's pretty, though." Yuan sighed and rubbed his forehead. "That's not going to help get us home," he muttered. Martel stood up and stretched. "Well, I know that," she said, "but, well, if I do it again, it will most likely come out a lot smoother, less uncomfortable, and a lot more accurate. That spell I had to make was made in haste, and the field generated was somewhat unstable. I was fortunate to land us here. I feared that we might wind up in the wrong dimension, or a shifted time scale, but, well, I can tell it didn't, so that's really all that matters, right?"

Yuan shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so," he said. "All right then, come back here," she instructed. Yuan stood up and returned to her. "Let's do it right this time, okay?" he asked. She smiled. "Of course!" she replied. "I might not get the exact location, but I'm pretty sure I know where the island is. If we don't land in the city, well, we can figure it out from there. Okay. So. Ready?" Yuan nodded.

Martel sighed, closed her eyes, and let herself connect to the mana of the land. She began the spell again, and this time, unhurried, she pronounced the words clearly and correctly, and manipulated the mana with greater precision than before. She finished the spell, and opened her eyes. Suddenly a spherical blue globe surrounded them, tinting the world in hues of indigo and azure. Martel bent her head in thought. The outside world disappeared, and for a moment they saw nothing but black around them. A bright yellow star blazed far off in the distance, and then swirls of color began to rush past them. Yuan saw strange, beautiful things, other worlds, and things he never would have imagined. "Where are we?" asked Yuan, whispering for no apparent reason. "It's the transfer area," she explained. "It's, ah, well, here we are."

The world returned, and the blue globe dissolved. Yuan glanced around at the wet buildings in the dark. "I think I know where we are," he said with a smile. "Let's go!"

It was just before morning. Moonlight spilled into the room, giving everything inside a cool glow. For a moment Presea sat in bed, confused. Regal stood knelt next to her, looking at her compassionately. It was only then that she realized she was crying.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently. Presea opened her mouth to say something, but she had nothing to say. She knew not why she had suddenly woken up, nor why she was crying. "You were calling for your mother," said Regal softly, as if reading her mind. Presea's face scrunched up. "Mommy," she whispered, and fresh tears began to flow. She closed her eyes and wept. Regal's large arms wrapped around her. She gripped them tightly and pressed her face into his chest. Regal kissed her forehead and stroked her hair, whispering reassuring words into her ear. It was not the same as having her father, but still, she was grateful to have Regal. He was really the only father figure she had left, and while it was not as good as the real thing, it was a great comfort to her.

After a few minutes she calmed down and rubbed her eyes. Regal looked at her face. "I am sorry for your losses," he said, "and while I advise you not to hold on to your grief, I, nor the others, hold anything against you for being affected by it. It only means you have the capacity to care and have love for others. Now, I know I can't do much for you, but I will do what I can. Is there anything I _can _do, to help?" Presea nodded, and whispered in his ear. Regal smiled and nodded. "That much I can do," he said.

Regal took Presea downstairs. "Where is everyone?" whispered Presea. "Sleeping," he replied. "It will be morning in an hour or so, though." Presea tilted her head, trying to recall the events leading to her sleep. "Why were you with me and not Genis?" she asked as Regal set her down in a chair in the kitchen. Regal put on an apron and opened a few drawers. "Well, it seems, contrary to what he said, Zelos allowed you some liquor," he said while searching for items, "and you fell asleep at the club. Genis dozed off too, as well as a couple of others, so we decided to get going. When we got home, Genis didn't even bother to change. He just laid down on a couch in the living room and fell back asleep. I took you upstairs, laid you in bed, and sat down. I didn't realize my fatigue until that moment when I hit the chair. I fell asleep almost instantly. So when you woke up and called for your mother, I was the only one who heard, since I was the only one near enough. You didn't really shout it. It was more of a...call, or something like that. A bit loud, but not loud enough for anyone outside of the room to hear." Regal glanced back at her to see her nod slowly.

He returned to the countertop and began mixing ingredients. There was a long silence, until Regal broke it with an unexpected question. "Genis seems quite old, doesn't he?" he said. Presea's head snapped up from its resting place in her hands. "Ah, yeah, I suppose," she said, wondering what prompted him to say a thing like that. "I would venture to say it's because he is mature," Regal added. "More mature than a lot of people much older than he is. But there is still a good amount of youth and fun loving attitude left in him, so that he's not entirely cynical." He cast a sidelong look at her while stirring a mixture in a bowl. "Where are you going with this?" she asked slowly. Regal let the question hang a moment before answering it.

"Only where you want and allow it to go," he said at last. "I like the boy. I admire him." He paused, then continued. "Perhaps, perhaps I just want to say, that you have made a good choice. You could do a lot worse than him. And," he added, smiling at her, "if it is not too bold to say, there is not much better he could do. Begging your pardon, of course." Presea smiled warmly. "Thank you, Regal," she said. Regal smiled again. "No problem," he said, and turned on the stove.

Yuan bent over double, trying to catch his breath. Martel trotted up alongside him, and he brought up his head to take a look around. "Are you certain you know where we are?" asked Martel doubtfully. Yuan looked at her, squinting one eye in the sunlight radiating from behind her and panting. "I was never certain," he replied, standing erect.

Yuan looked around again. "If I remember correctly," he said, "I said I thought I knew where we were. Not once did I say I was certain. In fact, I haven't seen an absolutely, positively familiar sight since we arrived in this city. It all looks somewhat familiar, but that could just be because the architecture is all the same!" He sighed and hung his head. "I hate to admit it, but we're lost. We don't know where we are, and we don't have a clue as to where our city is."

Martel was silent, her eyes cast downwards. Yuan looked up and lifted an eyebrow. A man was coming towards them from behind Martel. Yuan stepped in front of Martel, positioning himself between the two of them. "May I help you?" asked Yuan warily when the man was close. The man said something in Japanese, narrowed his eyes, and waited. Yuan sighed, wishing Sheena was with them. "Ah, I'm sorry, but I don't speak your language," said Yuan helplessly. The man said something else angrily, and put out his hand. "I don't understand," said Yuan. The man cursed, and drew a pistol from inside his leather jacket. He pulled back the top part and let it snap back into place. He pointed it at Yuan's head, repeated what he said, and stuck out his palm again. "I think he wants money," said Martel. "You think?" said Yuan.

Yuan had no money to give, and that was the worst thing he thought possible. The crook would likely leave them alone if he handed over some cash, but this hotheaded thief would probably get even angrier at the fact that they had no money and would shoot them. Yuan would have to bluff it. He raised his hands in peace, and slowly reached for his back pocket, remembering all the times he had seen Earthlings do it. There was no cash in the wallet he carried, but if he was right, it wouldn't matter.

Yuan drew out the wallet and slowly handed it over to the man, who snatched it away.

Yuan was right.

For a split second, the man glanced down to look at the wallet, for reasons unknown, and that proved to be his undoing. Using a technique the Arbiter had once shown him, Yuan grabbed the man's wrist, squeezed the pressure point, and wrenched the gun from his grip, all before the man had time to react. Yuan pointed the barrel at the man's head, and extended his hand with a grim smile. Terrified, the man handed the wallet back. Yuan took it and pointed in the direction the robber had come from. "Go," said Yuan grimly. The man didn't hesitate for a moment before sprinting off in the direction he came. Yuan sighed, and looked at the gun. "What should I do with this?" he asked Martel, and himself.

"I would suggest you keep it," she said. "It would be far worse to leave it somewhere. Well, actually, you could destroy it..." Yuan considered it briefly before shaking his head. "Nah, too dangerous," he said. "I guess I'll keep it. But it could be ready to fire. Now, one of these buttons here probably activates a safety measure, or ejects the ammunition, or something..." He gingerly laid a finger on one of the buttons, before pressing down. There was a click, and the magazine came out into Yuan's hand. "I hope there's no, uh, bullets left inside," he said, momentarily forgetting the word. "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out..." He pointed the gun at a trashbag. "Don't!" exclaimed Martel, but it was too late. Yuan squeezed the trigger.

The gun fired, a deafeningly loud noise. Yuan squeezed the trigger several more times, for good measure. When he was satisfied, he hid both the weapon and the ammo in a fold of his cloak. "Well, I suppose we should find out if this is our city first," said Martel, "before we decide what to do next." Yuan nodded. "I'll take a quick survey," he said. "Don't let anyone see you," warned Martel. "I won't," he reassured her.

He lifted himself into the air and flew up to the top of a nearby skyscraper. From the top he could see the entire city. Yuan remembered a certain building, very tall and impressive, that he had seen in the city in which he lived. It would be impossible to miss. Yuan scanned the skyline, but try as he might, there was no building like the one he had seen in his city. He flew back down and told Martel. "Well," she said, "I can sense the intense population of humans in cities within a certain area. We could go from city to city until we find yours." Yuan shrugged. "Sounds like a plan," he said. "Let's start looking!"

Martel came over and wrapped her arms around Yuan. She closed her eyes, and with a flash of a thought, a blue light enveloped them, and they disappeared.

"That was them?" said the girl. "That was one of them," said the man over the radio. "The man was one of the ones we had learned of. This is the first we've seen of this woman." The girl fell silent, thinking. "Well, what do you suggest we do?" she said at last. There was the sound of rustling papers over the comm.

"Reports indicate the group lives in Tokyo," the man said. He coughed, and more papers rustled. "Go there, and find out what you can. It's a large area, but from what we've learned, they all live in one place, and it's somewhere large and seemingly well known. If we find out anything more, we'll let you know. Rick out." The man signed off, and the radio was quiet.

The girl stood and stretched. "Well, you heard him, Violet," she said to herself. "You've got yourself some supers to find, and sitting around here isn't going to get things done any faster." With that, she leapt off the roof she had been on, and ran off to find passage to Tokyo.

The day of March 17 was quite an eventful one, at least for those in the house of Lloyd and Sheena Irving (since it was theirs, legally). Lloyd got to begin his day to the sounds of vomiting. Lloyd yawned and rubbed his eyes. Stretching, he sat up and looked at the space his wife usually occupied. "Sheena?" he called.

It had been about a month since the night at the club, and since they had so much fun, they had planned another visit. Unless, of course, something went wrong. Lloyd sighed, fearing Sheena's sickness would ruin their evening. He got out of bed and went into the bathroom.

Sheena sat disheveled on the floor, her head resting on the toilet seat. She moaned and stood up shakily. Her eyes were tired as she lurched into Lloyd's arms. She reached out a hand and found the knob to flush the toilet, but her hand slipped. She groaned with frustration and nausea. Lloyd frowned sympathetically and pressed the lever. "Thanks, Lloyd," she said into his chest. "Sorry if this ruins our plans." "Well, it's not like you can help it," he assured her. "Thank you," she said, not moving. "But the worst part is, I'm so hungry...but if I eat, I know I'll puke again..."

Lloyd took her head in his hand and moved it back so he could see her face. He brushed her silky, deep violet hair out of her eyes and smiled. Her eyes were red, but Lloyd couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked. "Well, you look really good," said Lloyd with a lop-sided smile. "In fact, you look just like an angel. You're positively glow...ing..."

The smile slipped from his face and plunged downward, dragging his whole face with it. "Oh, man," he whispered, the heavy realization sinking in. Sheena frowned. "What is it?" she asked. Lloyd's head dropped and shook back and forth. "Oh man oh man oh man," he said. "I don't think I'm ready for this yet..." Sheena still didn't get it. "What?" she asked. "What do you mean oh." It hit her in mid-sentence. In spite of her feeling so bad, she couldn't help but start smiling. "Wow," she whispered, her hands going to her cheeks. "Wow...so...this is...what it feels like..." Glee built up within her and exploded. "Oh Lloyd!" she squealed, throwing her arms around her husband. "I'm so happy!"

Lloyd looked at her in shock. "Y-you're _happy_ about this!" he asked, dumbstruck. Sheena nodded, still smiling. "Of course!" she said. "What's not to be happy about? It's a wonderful thing!" "But, but," Lloyd fumbled. "Besides," continued Sheena, "there's a giant family right here in this house that would be more than happy to help us out!" Lloyd nodded and stuck his upward pointed finger in the air. "First, let's make sure," he said. "I don't want to have to go through all this if you're not pregnant." "Of course," said Sheena. "To the doctor it is."

"Yippee!" shrieked Sheena. "I'm pregnant!" Lloyd just shook his head. "Let's just...go home," he muttered. The doctor laughed.

Soon after a small celebration party, the whole "family", which now included Martel, drifted off to sleep, much earlier than usual. Peacefully, strewn about the house, they dreamt of pleasant things, of happy times and beautiful places. For a while, at least.

Zelos, sleeping on a couch in the living room, woke to the sound of something scratching at the front door. He sat up, a bit dazed, and drew his sword drunkenly. "Who there?" he whispered. The scratching stopped, and there was nothing for a few seconds. Zelos stared at the door, wondering if he had really heard anything.

Suddenly a blue beam of light appeared where the lock used to be, and the door swung open. The Arbiter stepped through, holding a glowing energy sword. Zelos' grip relaxed on his sword. "Arbiter?" he asked sleepily. "Whass goin' on?"

"There's no time to explain," he said shortly. "We must get everyone out of the house, now!" He flipped a light switch. "Awake!" he bellowed. "Hurry! You must get out now!" The others all woke instantly, nearly forgotten battle alertness heightening their senses. "Go, go, go!" yelled the Arbiter.

Everyone grabbed a nearby weapon and left the house through the nearest exit. They met in the backyard. "What's going on?" asked Presea of the Arbiter. "My foes have found me," he said gravely, "and are intending to capture you all and use you as bargaining pieces. We must flee. There is little chance we could defeat the task force they have sent."

"Whatever chance we have," said Kratos, "may be the chance we have to take." "Why?" asked Raine. As if to answer her question, the lights in the house suddenly turned on all at once. The sound of heavy feet could be heard tramping in the yard not far from them. Without a word, they sprinted, taking their chances on having their backs turned. The owners of the heavy feet gave chase, their boots thumping on the soft turf.

The Symphonians, along with the Arbiter, soon ran into the tall fence at the edge of their property. There they spent precious seconds leaping over it. The Arbiter covered them until they were all over, before jumping over himself. Just as he landed on the other side, silenced guns fired at the fence, and wood splintered as bullets smacked into the dense trees encroaching the Symphonians' property. The Arbiter ran behind his friends, hoping those trees would afford them enough protection.

What was it about dark forests? What, really, made them so foreboding and full of mystery, intrigue, and horror? Was it the black of night so amplified by the close-pressing trees so that you could not see what was around you? Was it the unidentifiable noises that drifted through the air? Questions like these floated up to Raine's mind as she ran with the others into the dense wood. She knew best of all what kinds of things would lurk in areas like these, and she was pretty sure that there was nothing to be feared of them except what strangers entered into them. That knowledge only made her inexplicable terror just that: inexplicable.

She saw Kratos halt and hold up his hand. They all came to a stop and strained to listen over their own labored breathing and pounding hearts. They stood listening a good while, just to make sure they had indeed lost their pursuers. Kratos sighed. "Let's go," he whispered.

Things happened so fast, Raine wasn't even sure what had happened. First, there was a click as someone cocked a gun behind them. Then, everyone turned to look at once, just in time to see a dark figure fall to the ground with a heavy thump, and then a high-pitched alarm wailed from the place where the figure had fallen. Everyone cringed noticeably at the sound. Their position was given away, and they knew it. Just as they were about to start running again, something caught Kratos by the wrist and began pulling him to the left. "This way," whispered a girl's voice. Kratos let himself follow the invisible hand guide him, and at a beckon from the force leading him, broke out into a run.

The others had no choice but to follow him. If someone was going to guide them, that was great. They could only hope it was not to their doom. For some reason, Kratos seemed to trust it, and everyone else trusted Kratos, so...

Whoever was leading seemed to be doing a good job: there were no more sounds of anyone following them, and the woods were thinning. Soon they emerged on the far side of the patch of trees, and were greeted by the sight of a sleek, black jet sitting in a clearing on the crown of a hill. The group hesitated.

"I think it would be better to make an informed decision, wouldn't you say?" Zelos said. Raine nodded. "I agree," she said. "We're not going any further until we know who you are and what you want." "Fair enough," said the girl's voice again. At that moment a slim girl with long black hair and an odd costume appeared out of thin air. "What do you want to know?" she asked, a somewhat smug smile turning her lips.

"Well, who you are, for starters," Zelos said. "I never date--uh, used to date--anyone without a little background info. So, what's your name, what do you do, and why are you wearing that, ah, unique outfit?" The girl raised an eyebrow. "For now, you can call me Aegis," she said. "If it turns out well, well, then perhaps you can know my real name. In case you haven't guessed, I'm a super, as is all of my family. I wear this outfit because it hides my secret identity." The group absorbed this with less disbelief than she expected.

"You don't think it's absurd?" she asked. "Well, what's a super?" asked Lloyd. "You know, a superhero," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What's that?" he asked, wrinkling his nose. She sighed. "You know, people with superpowers, powers that humans don't have," she said. "Watch." She extended a hand and a blue-violet semitransparent orb appeared around her. At the same time she disappeared. "Try to hit me," she said, her voice muffled. Kratos shrugged and struck the field with his sword. The barrier flashed and his sword rang as it was flung back from the shield. The field disappeared and she reappeared. "Ahhh, well the costume makes sense now," said Raine. "If you have powers like that, then your foes would likely have powers as well...or they might not. If you have a secret, by which I assume you mean normal, identity, then it would be easy to threaten you and your loved ones if they knew who you were."

"Exactly," said Aegis. "I get it!" exclaimed Lloyd. The girl sighed again. "Geez, are you guys from another world or something?" she asked in frustration. "Actually, yes," said Kratos. There was a brief moment of silence, after which Aegis asked, "You're kidding, right?" Kratos merely looked back at her. "Does something in my expression indicate that possibility?" he said. Her face fell, and she looked as if she was bored beyond imagining. "I should have known better than to ask," she muttered. "Well, anything's possible. Anyways, what we were out here for is that we got wind of the possibility of some supers living out here, supers the American government had no record of. So they dispatched my family and I to check it out. So, here we are, and if you'll come with us, I'm sure you'll find out a lot of interesting stuff. And hey, it beats fighting those dudes back there. Your choice, though."

No sooner had her lips stopped moving than a hail of bullets opened up on them. The girl gasped and quickly put up a barrier around them. "Decide now!" she barked. "Let's go," said Kratos immediately. "We've run out of options." They all nodded. "I've got to let it down," said Aegis. "When I do, you've got to run for the plane, got it?" They nodded. "All right," she said. "On three-one, two...three!" She let down the shield around them and instantly caused another one to appear between them and the source of the bullets. The group ran for the plane, which extended a ramp to meet them. Zelos stopped before he got there, noticing their guide had been left behind. He turned around and headed back for her. "Zelos!" cried Colette. He looked back, his eyes betraying no intention of stopping. "Be careful," she said. He nodded, and sprinted over to Aegis.

Pulling a pair of nine-millimeter handguns out of hidden holsters, Zelos cocked them both and came up to the slowly retreating Aegis. "Let's go!" he shouted. "They're gonna flank us quick!" With that she nodded and started to back up faster, letting down her shield and putting one up around herself. "Go!" shouted Zelos, moving around her. The shooters obviously knew they weren't going to break the shield, which must mean that they were distracting them. "Go!" he shouted again. "Can't you see they're up to something! Drop the damn shield and run!" Zelos raised his pistols and returned fire into the trees. He dodged and ducked as he retreated to the aircraft. On the way back he had the satisfaction of hearing several times the alarm he had heard earlier when their attacker in the woods had crumpled over. Finally he scurried up the ramp as the plane lifted into the air.Zelos peered down out a window to see a huge plume of fire rise up beneath them. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Wait," he said after a second, "why didn't they attach the bomb to the plane?"

"Probably because they couldn't," said a new voice. Zelos and his turned around to see a gray-haired man in a matching gray suit. He had deep creases in his face, a large nose, sunken eyes, but somehow seemed quite cheerful despite his weary visage. All of them stood in a small steel gray room, its only exits beneath them and behind the old man." This plane is specially designed to be, well, stick-proof," said the older man. "It's similar to Teflon, but much better. It also helps reflect any damage it might receive from impacts, like from bullets and missiles." He extended a hand to Zelos. "My name is Rick Dickers," said the gray-haired man. "Good to meet you. May I ask the names of our guests?"

"Uhhhh," Zelos said uncertainly, with a glance towards Kratos, who nodded. "Okay. My name is Zelos Wilder, magic swordsman. Behind me we have our mana master and chef Genis Sage and his gorgeous, intelligent sister Raine Bryant, wife of martial artist Regal Bryant. Next is Lloyd Irving, dual sword wielding tactician and husband to the lovely Sheena Irving, a guardian card user and mother-to-be. After that we have my wife, the sweet Colette Wilder, chakram-throwing expert. Then we have the imposing swordsman Kratos Aurion, father of our very own Lloyd Irving. We've also got double-bladed sword wielder Yuan and his wife Martel, and our good friend Botta, heavy sword extraordinaire. Oh, and how could I forget the oh-so-cute Presea Combatir, a champion of the ax. Last, but certainly not least, the mysterious Arbiter, an alien warrior and master of the mind. Well, I think that's everyone. Sorry if I embellished too much, but it's in my nature. So, you know who we are, why don't you give us a little info?"

Rick nodded. "Certainly," he said. "I apologize, but for obvious reasons I took a lie detector test of all of you while Zelos was speaking. As you know, it was negative for lies. Perhaps now that our friends backstage see that you're open about yourselves, they'll open up about themselves. Won't you?" He directed the last two words behind him, into the darkened door behind him. "Well, come on in," called a voice from behind it. Rick smiled. "Good," he said to them, and led the way back.

They were led into a large room that took up most of the plane. It consisted of the cockpit and tactical stations. Liquid crystal displays stood about the room and hung on the walls. Raine paid close attention as their group was introduced to their hosts. She listened intently as Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, the Dash, Aegis, and Frozone introduced themselves and explained their powers. Raine wished she had a notebook.

Zelos was interested at first, too, but soon they began talking about technical things, and then it turned into another session of world history as Raine, once again, started to explain the process of how they had gotten to where they were now. He dozed off for a while, and woke up to find Raine almost at the end of her tale.

Zelos got up, stretched, and glanced quickly at the group before wandering off to look at stuff. He came up behind the pilot, who, although she was flying the plane, listened attentively as well through an intraplane comm channel directed into her headset. Zelos looked over the complex controls and sighed. He would like to learn how to fly one of these badboys, but so many things to know...

Zelos spied something interesting a few feet away, next to the flight controls. He moved closer to it and was soon rewarded with an unobstructed view of what hung on the wall. "Whoa," whispered Zelos, running his finger over it. There, mounted on the wall, was a gun Zelos had seen in action only once before. It was a gunmetal gray, top loading pump-action shotgun with a black, heavy plastic stock. He noticed that the stock was hollow; at least a dozen red shells were slotted into the underside.

The pretty, white-haired pilot saw him eyeing the gun and smiled. "It's for emergency situations only," she said in a slightly seductive, accented voice. "We keep it loaded at all times, however. The safety is on, so as long as you don't press any switches, you're welcome to inspect it." Zelos looked at her and then looked back. After a moment, he cautiously took the gun and gently slid it out of the clip on the wall. He set it in a firing position and aimed it at the wall. In the dim light, he could see the sights glow faintly. "It's a ten gauge," said the pilot. "What's that mean?" Zelos asked. The pilot smiled. "The size of the barrel," she explained. "It means it's powerful enough to blow just about anyone off their feet." Zelos made a low whistle, and unconsciously thumbed the safety off.

Zelos noticed a flashing red indicator on the pilot's board. "What's-" he began.

He didn't finish his sentence. A green flash of light flooded the room and the pilot whirled to face the confused passengers. "Enemy contacts!" she said tersely. Turning back to her controls, she added, "They've taken Zelos."

Lloyd jumped to his feet. "What!" he exclaimed. "How!" The pilot shook her head. "Some sort of transporter," she said. "I don't think they'll harm him, but we've got to keep those craft in our sights or we'll lose him. He's got to be on one of them."

"How many are there?" asked Rick. "Three," replied the pilot. Rick nodded. "Stay on their tails," he said. "We'll think of something."

For a few moments Zelos could not feel his body at all, and he wondered where he was. Then he felt his body phase into existence quickly, from a wisp of gas to a solid form. Zelos took one fast look at his surroundings, made a few very fast observances, assumptions, and deductions, and squeezed the trigger of the gun he still held in his hand.

The shell tore through two masked beings, and although it had been too dark to see them on the ground, Zelos knew it was the same ones who had attacked them earlier. This time, however, he was ready for them. He pumped the slide back and then forward again, ejecting the empty shell and loading a fresh one into the pipe.

He took a second to aim and fired again, causing another pair of guards to stagger and fall to the deck. By this time it had dawned on some of the kidnappers what was going on, and several grabbed SMGs from resting places. Zelos caught one in the chest as he lunged for a gun, pumped and blew another back as it cocked its gun, and pumped once more before one of them began to open fire. Zelos rolled out of the way and squeezed off a shot at the one with its gun trained on him. The guard fell, suit alarm wailing.

Zelos got to his feet and pumped the gun again. He found he was in a small ten by ten foot room, with a door directly ahead of him. Behind him he saw a machine, no doubt the one that snatched him from his plane. Gun racks lined the walls, and oddly convoluted boxes were mounted beneath these. He guessed there were probably more enemies in the room beyond. It was amazing that no one else had come back here.

Carefully, he slunk over to the door, positioned himself on the opposite side of the door from the knob, and placed his hand over it. He took a deep breath, and twisted the knob and flung the door open. Or at least, he tried to. The knob wouldn't turn. Zelos thought he understood the situation before; he was beginning to change those perceptions.

An idea dawned on him. He opened one of the boxes on a hunch and was rewarded according to his hope. Inside the box was foam packing containing five long cylinders, each with a square attachment on top stuck through with a pin on a ring. Grenades. Zelos smiled. He had seen enough to know what they did and how they worked.

He took one from the packing and walked back over to the door. Zelos jammed the cylinder between the knob and the doorframe. He slipped his finger into the ring and jerked on it. The pin slid out smoothly and a red light glowed on the square attachment. Zelos ran as far away as he could, turned around, squatted down and covered his ears.

As he watched, the grenade detonated, blowing the door off its hinges. Zelos rushed through the smoke filled doorway and found one enemy in front of him, which he quickly dispatched. He took a good look around and found that his second suspicion had been correct; there was nothing beyond this door except for the cockpit and the pilot. Whom he had just killed. Whom he needed to fly the plane. Zelos rubbed his temples.

Just then a crackling noise came from the controls. "Zelos?" called a familiar voice. "This is the Arbiter. Don't try to respond, just listen, there's no time. In front of you there should be a control yoke, shaped in a semicircle. This flies the plane. To move up, pull back on the yoke. To go down, push on it. To go right, pull right, and to go left, pull left. Soon the other planes will realize what's happened and will shoot you down. If you absolutely must bail out, you'll have to leave via the transporter you came in on. To transport yourself to the ground, choose the coordinates on the map by moving the lines on it with the two switches. You'll know which ones I mean. To activate the portal, press the large green button. Move into the transporter and you will appear on the ground in a second or two. Do all that as fast as you can, because you will soon move out of the transporter's range and will have to start over." Static hissed for a moment as Zelos settled into the pilot's seat. "Zelos," came the Arbiter's voice again, "you are moving too fast for us to catch up without drawing suspicion. This means we can't help you except by talking. Your best bet would be to try to shoot down the other planes before they understand what the situation is. Locate the glowing blue switch on your left, assuming you're in the pilot's chair."

Zelos found it and waited for the Arbiter to continue. "If you flip that switch, it will turn on your targeting screen," he explained. Zelos flipped the switch, and a deep indigo hue slid down the viewscreen until it coated the whole of the screen. The two planes in front of him were flares of red and orange on the midnight background. Zelos did his best to try and keep his plane steady. More static, then, "Now, the plane recognizes friendly craft and won't let you get a lock on them. To disable this, look up and follow my instructions. You should see a series of covered switches. To enable friendly fire, flip open the cover and press the switch of each switch I tell you, in order. Ready?" Zelos nodded to no one in particular, and poised his finger over the switches. Following the Arbiter's prompts, Zelos opened the covers and pressed the switches as the Arbiter called them out. Before giving him the last prompt between two switches, the Arbiter warned, "Once you have disabled this safety, an alarm will immediately be broadcast to all friendly aircraft. You'll have to act quickly to catch them as they attempt to override their securities. Since yours will already be off, you'll have a few precious seconds to squeeze the left trigger on the yoke and select a target, and then squeeze the right and fire a homing missile. Get in position now. Alright, press the one that looks like two triangles with points touching. Then press the last one. That's all I can provide for now, Zelos. The next few minutes will be up to you."

The radio fell silent, and Zelos swallowed. His finger hovered below the final switch, glowing and eagerly asking to be pushed. He looked straight at the planes ahead, grabbed the yoke, and took a deep breath. He moved his finger straight up and depressed the button. He squeezed the left trigger as his right hand came down to the yoke. A yellow triangle appeared around the left plane. It quickly shrunk, turned red and began to flash rapidly. Zelos squeezed the right trigger and the plane shook as a rocket, glaringly white on the infrared screen, launched forth from the underside of the plane and obliterated the plane. The plane on the right began to swerve as Zelos squeezed the left trigger again and got a lock on the plane. The plane came straight at him and opened fire with twin autocannons. Zelos pulled the plane into a tight roll as he launched a second missile. It dropped away and streaked away behind his field of vision, tracking its target. Zelos recovered from the barrel roll and turned to get a better view of the enemy plane.

Zelos saw the plane duck and roll frantically to avoid the incoming missile. Almost as an afterthought, a last-ditch effort, it deployed its chaff from compartments hidden in the aft section. The missile's guidance system fell for a false target and exploded. As the enemy plane wheeled to face him, Zelos established another lock and fired. Realizing he had thumbswitches, he pressed them while aiming at the plane. Twin bursts of fire lanced toward the plane and nicked the hull. Zelos grinned and leaned on the gun fire control. The rounds tore into the planes hull, damaging the plane enough to allow the rocket to catch up with it in a white-hot sphere of flame.

Zelos sighed and fell back against the seat. He closed his eyes and smiled. A second later they flew open at the sound of a repeating, shrieking alarm. A red light flashed on the panel. Strange characters appeared one at a time, stayed for a second, and then were replaced by new characters. The Arbiter said something over the intercom, but Zelos didn't hear it. He had enough sense to know what that display was showing: a countdown.

Zelos hurriedly flipped the switches on the teleporter, urging the machine to warm up as the alarms wailed ever more insistent. The sirens had nearly turned into a constant howl when the green orb appeared in the machine. Zelos wildly punched in some coordinates and ran into the portal, just as the plane's engines went critical, and the plane, along with everything on it, ceased to exist as anything vaguely reminiscent of physical matter.

The Arbiter cast his eyes downward as the screen flooded with an intense white light. The light faded, and everyone hesitated a moment before dropping their arms from their faces, fearing the image they knew they would see. There was nothing where the aircraft had been. Colette's heart leapt into her throat. "Is he...?" she whispered. The Arbiter shook his head. "We can't be sure of where he is now," he said quietly. "A split second before the aircraft self-destructed, Zelos' heat signature vanished from the rear of the plane, as he was moving in the direction of the transportation device. It may have been an error as the plane was exploding and discrepancies in the synchronization of the display crystals, but from the looks of things, Zelos likely made it through the portal. However," he added, anticipating unfounded expressions of relief, "without time to accurately locate a suitable site for the teleport, he could be in more danger than he was before. Or worse. Now, the range of that teleporter is only about a half of a mile, but well..." The Arbiter coughed, and frowned.

"What do you mean?" asked Lloyd. "Well," said the Arbiter bringing his hands together in front of himself and clasping them, "let's just say this. Most likely, he is within a half-mile radius of the explosion area. Technically, however, it is possible that he could be anywhere. In the known, or unknown, universe."


	7. Chapter 7

Zelos woke sluggishly, his eyes groggily opening and closing. Zelos yawned and stretched, twisting his face as his tired muscles moved after hours of rest in somewhat uncomfortable conditions and positions. Zelos rolled over to go back to sleep and was poked in the face by a shard of rock. Zelos, alarmed, sprang to his feet and looked around, dazed and in wonder.

Zelos could only see a hazy yellow blur in the top half of his vision and a hazy gray blur in the bottom. He felt and heard something crack and break as he shifted his weight. Zelos, confused, rubbed his eyes and blinked. The world came into focus. The yellow haze was the air around him, smelling of ammonia and other foul gases. The gray blur was the ground, which vented the yellowish gases from a thousand orifices. Zelos frowned. The ground...was all rock. As far as he could see, stone surrounded him on all sides. Nearby there was a blackened corpse. Zelos cringed at the sight. Next to it there lay a cylinder, about the size and shape of a fairly long flashlight. He picked it up and examined it before slipping into his belt. There appeared to be a switch on it, but not knowing what it was, he decided to be safe and leave it off. Taking another look around, he assessed his situation.

He was standing in a field of shale with no way of telling where he was nor which way he should head; the fog made sure of that. Zelos raised an eyebrow, wondering how he'd get out of this one. A greenish glow made him turn. About ten feet away on his left there was a portal, similar to the one on the aircraft. What was it doing here and why, Zelos pondered to himself. He looked back at the rocky field. He noted that the plumes of steam hissing out of the ground seemed to have grown in size and quantity. A rumbling beneath his feet, accompanied by a growing heat and shaking underground alerted him that something was not quite right. Sixty yards away he could see an ominous red glow emerge beneath the rocky crust of the ground and grow in intensity. The glow began to spread quickly.

Zelos looked at the portal again. It just sat there, invitingly, as if to say "You're seriously not planning on staying, right?" Zelos nodded to it. "I see your point," he said aloud. "Well, I doubt whatever's behind you is worse than this place." The portal shifted ever so slightly as he said this. Zelos knew it was saying "Duh!" and he laughed. "What did I do last night?" asked Zelos, shaking his head. He stepped through, and the portal disappeared, taking him with it.

Martel sighed and slumped to the ground. "It's no use," she said miserably, her eyes closed. "I can't detect any trace of him. I'm not quite in tune with this world yet, but still..." She shook her head and stood up. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Well, let's not give up hope yet," she said brightly. "I must admit that my own powers of perception are too weak to abandon all hope." Yuan placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for trying anyways, though," he said, managing a smile.

It had been over twenty-four hours since the incident at the mansion, during which Zelos was disturbing lost. Colette had not become quiet, as some of her friends thought, but rather become stronger and more determined than ever, if that was possible. They took heart from her courage, and were currently attempting to locate Zelos.

Not having much better of a place to set up, they returned to their home, which was surprisingly untouched by the invaders, whom the Arbiter had identified as the Combine. It seemed, however, that the attack would probably be the only one; Gordon was making great strides in his own home. The Arbiter was apparently released from whatever debt he had felt he owed, and had promised that he would try as hard as he could to stay where he was wanted most.

Despite the fact the threat of the Combine was greatly diminished and was dwindling faster, the family of Symphonians wasn't going to take any chances. The Shinsengumi and their friends and Ranma and his friends volunteered to help guard the house. The government and its superhero assets expressed their concerns but were unable to aid them, as they were needed in their own place. Satisfied with the report Raine had given them, they were to return to America for debriefing and return to their lives and jobs.

Stuck at a veritable impasse, the friends milled about the house, pensive and worried looks on most faces, intense and thoughtful ones on others. Presea and the Arbiter sat at a table, bouncing ideas off each other while the Arbiter watched Presea practice using the Holy Force, something she had only recently begun developing any skill at. The Arbiter had been away so often that she hadn't been getting the lessons he had promised her. Now that he was back, the Arbiter was pleased to see she was making good progress.

Presea stuck out her tongue in concentration as she focused on a glass of water. Her hand wavered tensely between the glass and her. The cup shakily rose an inch, two inches, three, then four, before Presea carefully set it back down and let out the breath she had been holding. "Good," said the Arbiter. "Do it again." Presea sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow. "Well, what about that spaceship?" she asked. She raised her arm and did the exercise again. The Arbiter, after watching her for a moment, said, "No, the range on my scanner is not that large. It would take a long time to..."

He stopped in midsentence. His mouth kept working for a second without any sound, and then he shut it. "That might work," he whispered. Presea grunted as she let the glass down again. "What might work?" she asked. He rose from his seat. "Get Genis and come with me," he told her. "I will inform the others. We're going to try something. It may not work, but, well, then again, it may. Go. Get your partner. Let's get going."

Zelos sat quietly in his corner of the restaurant, his mouth open slightly as he stared off into space. Racking his brain, he kept trying to figure out what was going on, but no memories, nor anything else, gave him any clue as to what was going on. Nothing, except maybe for that portal. The friendly glowing green orb cheerfully buzzed to itself outside in the parking lot. Every time he went through it, it always stayed close to him. Infuriatingly, it never moved, but rather stayed where it was, as if it knew Zelos would have no choice but to travel with it again.

Zelos sighed, blinked, and looked down again at his plate. He was not getting any answers here. The place was suave and full of beautiful, artistic women and cool, entrepreneur-type men in casual attire that somehow seemed formal. Zelos was all for swanky parties, but most of this stuff was way over his head. He sighed again, got up, dropped a piece of gold on the table, and left the building.

Zelos walked out into the parking lot and looked up. "Wonder where I am," he whispered softly. Suspended in a deep red sky were seven moons of various hues of green and blue. Some appeared larger, some smaller, probably due to distance. Behind five of those moons loomed a vast planet, wreathed in eternal blue clouds. He could see flashes of light illuminate tiny sections of the sphere, and knew those storms had to be larger and more intense than any he had ever seen before. Pinpricks of light shone brightly behind the darkened, bloody sky.

Zelos shivered, a sense of awe and fright surging up his spine. He hastily looked away, the feeling of foreignism too great. He walked quickly to the portal, which seemed happy to see him. "Whatever, whatever," said Zelos. "Just get me closer to home this time, okay?" With that, he entered the orb, and vanished.

"So, where are we going again?" asked Presea. The Arbiter did not look up from the ship's controls. "A place called New York," he said while continuing his routines. "We need the use of the equipment of some...friends." He said the last word and smiled oddly. "Oookaaay," said Genis. "What equipment is that and whose is it?" The Arbiter looked up into the viewport in front of him for a moment, paused thoughtfully, then returned to the console.

"Do you remember our trip to Jamaica?" he asked finally. They nodded and, when he didn't speak, remembered that he couldn't see behind himself, and said that they did. "Do you remember those two men in the black suits?" he asked. Again they replied that they did. "We're going to their headquarters," the Arbiter said. "They have extensive satellite networks, and I believe it might be possible to locate him using those. We'll just have to see."

He pressed a switch, and the ship powered up its engines. "We'll be there in no time," the Arbiter said. The ship rose in the air and flew away.

Zelos landed with a soft thump on a spongy surface. He looked down and saw grass beneath his feet. He sighed, hoping he was back to somewhere he could recognize. He looked up and saw blue sky, white clouds, and a single, golden sun. Taking a look around him, he noted to his surprise that the portal was nowhere to be seen. _Maybe it was finished with what it purposed to do_, he thought. _Or maybe it finally phased out of existence. Or..._ He shook his head, clearing his mind. It didn't matter that much at this point, anyhow.

Surveying his surroundings, he found he was nearly entirely surrounded by trees. From where he stood, upon a hill, he could see forests stretching as far as his eyes could see, with intermittent patches of lighter green--grass--taking up the remaining area. Just at the edge of his vision, he thought he could just descry a faint blue line, possibly a lake, an ocean, or a river. Turning around, he saw that he stood on only one of a chain of hills that bent into the distance. Eventually they rose higher and higher, until they turned into mountains. Far away, above the highest peak he could see, storm clouds gathered and slowly began to darken the sky.

Zelos sighed, contemplating what to do. Suddenly, his eyes began to waver, and his knees began to buckle. A tremendous exhaustion hit his shoulders like a giant weight. Zelos staggered tiredly, unable to resist the temptation of rest. The last thing he thought before the darkness took him was an idle wondering of long it had been since he had had a good night's sleep. He could not remember, and could not think of a reason not to take this very opportunity. His body landed on the soft turf, and Zelos fell instantly into a deep, pleasant slumber.

Voices spoke high above him. Deep, throaty growls arose and the voices calmed them. Zelos opened his eyes, his blurry vision registering only the black night sky above. He blinked away the fog, and stars came into focus. The voices and growls suddenly stopped. Zelos furrowed his brow and looked from side to side. It was too dark, but he thought he saw shapes like humans. _Some help at last! _thought Zelos happily. Before he could say or do anything, something pricked his arm, and he instantly went back to sleep. Above him, the voices continued.

"There." The Arbiter pointed to a section of the map where a large group of lights glowed. "He's got to be there," the Arbiter repeated. "What makes you so certain?" asked J. The Arbiter tapped a few keys. A chart appeared, comparing the spectral analysis of a few different beings. He pointed to one of them. "This is Genis' signal, that of a half-elf," he said. Then he pointed to another. "And that is one of those signals in that sector." K shook his head. "But it doesn't match," he said, "and besides, I thought you said your friend was a human, right?" "True," said Presea, "but through genetic testing, he has some half-elf blood in him."

"Look," said the Arbiter. He overlaid the spectral trail of a human on top of that of a half-elf. "Now watch this," he said. He dragged the signal of the previous chart, which was presumed to be Zelos, over the two mixed ones. The line of Zelos never deviated from either of the two spectral trails. "Meaning that that being is mixed between half-elf and human," said J, nodding. "Okay. And these other ones?" The Arbiter held up a hand and turned back to the screen. He put his own signature over one of the others. It matched. "They are my people," he said, looking back at J. "I will go retrieve them, and bring them back here." J opened his mouth to say something, but K put his hand on J's arm and shook his head. J shut his mouth and nodded. "Okay, then," he said. "See you when you get back."

Akane Tendo lifted her head suddenly, and rolled to the right. Lloyd charged past her and smashed into the far wall. Ranma fell over and laughed hysterically. "Ow..." said Lloyd, rubbing his face. He sighed, popped his neck, and closed his eyes. He opened them again, and raised his swords again. Akane raised hers. "Your move," she said. Lloyd grinned, and lunged forward. Akane ducked to the left and swung her kendo stick at Lloyd's back. But he was expecting it, and had moved out of the way to the right. Too off balance from her swing, she could not turn to face Lloyd, and took the full brunt of his shove in her ribs. She grunted in surprise as Lloyd rammed her and sent her tumbling to the ground. He walked over and presented the tip of his wooden blade to her face.

She smiled crookedly, catching her breath while sweat ran down her face. Akane let her head lean against the wall with a thump. "Switch," she said. Ranma gave a battle cry and charged. Lloyd immediately bent over backwards and crossed his wooden swords over his chest. His back was nearly touching the floor when Ranma struck down at him. Lloyd caught Ranma's blade with his two, and fell back onto the floor. Lifting his legs up, he bent his knees and tucked his legs under Ranma's stomach. Then, rocking backward, he kicked out with such force that Ranma was thrown against the wall. Akane groaned as his body landed on her. Lloyd got up and lashed out at Ranma. Ranma blocked his strike and nimbly got back into fighting position.

Lloyd attacked with both swords, swinging furiously, but accurately. Ranma could scarcely keep track of both blades, let alone block them. With a two-handed stroke, Ranma swung as Lloyd did. Ranma's stick snapped Lloyd's thinner blade. Lloyd hardly changed pace. Keeping his right arm in front of him, he attacked with swift, small strokes, fighting in a fencing style. He turned and spun around as Ranma lunged past. Lloyd brought his sword down at Ranma's back, which was exactly what he expected. However, he was not expecting Lloyd to change hands. Protecting the wrong area, Ranma was dealt a surprisingly powerful blow on the back. He was forced to the ground. As he struggled to flip over and get to his feet, a sharp jab in the neck made him freeze. He rolled his eyes. "Switch," he said. Lloyd kept his sword digging into Ranma's flesh. "I said switch," Ranma reminded him. "No one's coming," said Lloyd. Ranma got to his feet. He looked at Akane. She shook her head and proceeded to fall on the floor, still panting. Ranma looked at his father and Soun. They shook their heads and put ice packs on their necks. He looked at Nabiki and Kasumi. Nabiki rubbed two fingers and a thumb together; Kasumi paled and pointed to a pot. Ranma sighed. "You win," he grumbled.

"That wasn't so bad, now, was it?" Lloyd said cheerfully. Ranma stormed off to his room. Akane came up behind Lloyd and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't listen to him, you were great!" she said. "That boy was due for a comedown anyway." Akane let her hand drop and limped away to the shower. Lloyd sighed, and began to unravel the bindings on his hands. Now that the sparring was over, a fresh flood of worries washed over him. He stared down at the floor, terrible fantasies playing in his mind. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and it wasn't until then that he realized he was crying. He lost all control and sank to the floor, sobbing. Sheena took him in her arms and rocked him back and forth. "He'll be all right," she said soothingly. "He'll be all right." But to herself her words sounded hollow, and she knew they were as much to comfort Lloyd as they were to comfort herself.

Zelos dreamt he was on a boat. The ocean rocked the ship, and salty spray erupted from ahead of the bow, washing over the hull and blowing into his face. Zelos inhaled deeply, and exhaled with a smile. He heard a constant clanking beat, and wondered what kind of power the boat ran on. Suddenly there was a scraping sound in his ear, and a swarm of gulls scratched at his face. He tried to shoo them away, but they felt unusually hard and prickly. The dream began to fade, and Zelos found his eyes creaking open tiredly, like wooden doors that have been left shut for far too long.

Darkness was all around him. He jolted up and down, and something hard supported him under his back. Stars were above him, as was a dark, looming shape that bounced as he did. It dawned on him that it was carrying him. It looked down, and then to the side. It rumbled deep in its throat, and was answered by a short, soft command, spoken in a pleasant voice but an alien language. Zelos fought down panic as he realized he could not move, save to blink his eyes and breathe. He tried to voluntarily move his arm, his leg, his finger, _anything_, but nothing responded.

Someone cleared their throat. "Don't worry, human," said the deep, resonant voice. "We have specific orders from our leader to keep you alive. Even if we did not, we also have orders to not kill unnecessarily. You were armed, but asleep, and therefore not a threat. Still, we have given you a paralytic injection, just to be safe. You may blink, breathe, and speak, and that is all. You are fortunate we are not as ruthless as our more numerous associates." Zelos tried his mouth. It moved, slowly at first, and then more normally as it got reaccustomed to forming words. "Where are we?" he asked. There was a silence, and then the voice spoke again. "We do not know exactly," it said. "We are, however, on the planet Earth. That is all we know so far." Zelos breathed a sigh of relief. At least that much!

"Who are you?" asked Zelos, the obvious question arising later than expected. The voice grunted. "Collectively, all of our species and their alliance are called The Covenant," it said. "We, specifically, are the followers of the Arbiter. We have a more...noble...moral code." Zelos was surprised. "I thought your voice sounded familiar," Zelos said. "What do you mean?" asked the voice. "Well, like the Arbiter's," he explained. "Your voice sounds like his. Kind of." "Do you know him well?" asked the voice. Zelos automatically tried to shrug, and was disturbed by the fact that he couldn't. "Sort of," he said. "He was living with us, and then he had to leave on some secret business, but he still comes around pretty often. I haven't really gotten to know him personally, but... I guess you could say I know him pretty well. I know a lot about him, at least." "Indeed," said the voice quietly.

Nothing was said for a long while. Finally, they stopped. "We're here," it said.

"Whoa, hey, okay, okay!" Zelos fell back onto the chair, laughing. Presea had leapt into his arms and was doing her best to squeeze the life out of Zelos. "Zelos!" she said. "We were so worried about you!" He stroked her hair a couple of times, and rubbed her reassuringly on the back. "I'm okay, really," he said. "I'm fine. I'm here now, right?" Presea released him and wiped her eyes on her sleeves. "Yeah," she said. Genis walked over and smiled warmly. He embraced Zelos, and found to his surprise that there was a thick lump in his throat. "Glad to have you back," he said. Zelos laughed to himself softly as Genis let him go. "What?" asked Presea. Zelos shook his head. "Nothing," he said. "It's just that I can remember a time when no one would have missed me... well, not like this. No." He sighed, a distant look in his eyes. "Not like this."

They were aboard the Arbiter's ship; he had picked up his company, who had found Zelos, in the forests of northern Japan. Now, they headed back to MIB headquarters, to request a ship to take the Arbiter's soldiers to...wherever it was that they were going. They were very secretive about that, and none of the Arbiter's human or half-elven friends were able to figure out where they went. All he would ever say was, "They went where they were needed," and that was all they could ever hope to get out of him.

On arriving home, Zelos was greeted with great enthusiasm by his friends, and even more enthusiasm by Colette. They even managed to get Ranma and Shizuma to hug another guy, which everyone agreed was a first, as was Sheena's unheard of concern when she cried and gave Zelos a kiss on the cheek.

By the time everyone had greeted him and they had celebrated a bit, it was getting quite late. As everyone present had been at the house for a while already, they decided to stay one more night. Everyone changed quickly into pajamas, and met downstairs in the living room. "Okay, spill it," said Ryoko to Zelos as soon as they had all settled. "Well, what do you want to know?" he asked in return. She shrugged. "Everything that happened from the time the plane blew up until now," she suggested. Zelos wrinkled his brow. "Since _what_?" he asked incredulously. The others looked at each other. "You know," said Colette gently. "You were kidnapped by some bad guys in a plane, and then you took control of the plane..." Zelos looked blank. "...which caused a self-destruct to activate and you had to abandon ship using the teleporter," she finished. "You don't remember that?" asked Raine. Zelos shook his head. "Hmm," mused Raine. "You may have acute amnesia from that event. It _was_ rather trying, I'd imagine. So, then, what do you remember?"

Zelos furrowed his brow in thought. "I was in the government plane that picked us up," he said, half to himself. "I was looking at a...a shotgun. Yes. And then...I woke up." "What happened then?" asked Megumi. Zelos smiled roguishly, and everyone leaned in. "Well," he said, "that's where it got interesting."

So he told them what happened after he woke up until he arrived back in his home, and everyone paid close attention, fascinated, prodding for details when he failed to describe something fully. "Are you sure you didn't dream all that?" asked Raine. "You might have been in a coma, or asleep. "Oh, really?" he said. He withdrew an elongated tube from his belt. It was elegantly simplistic, being of silver and black, and it was roughly the size of a flashlight. "Some dream," he said softly, staring at the tube in thought.

"Cool lightsaber," someone said. Zelos snapped out of it and looked up. "What did you call it?" he asked. "It is lightsaber, yes?" said Xiaoxing. "Look exactly like out of Star Wars." Zelos looked at it in a new light. "It does look something like a laser blade," he mused thoughtfully. He stared at it a moment longer, and then looked around at all the people gazing intently at him. "Well, let's try it out, shall we?" He stood up, found the slide-box activator, and before anyone could say anything, switched it on.

Nothing happened. He sighed, disappointed. Ryoko got up and moved towards him. "Can I see?" she asked. Zelos shrugged. "Well, I did find it in a volcanic field," he said. "Maybe..." "What?" asked Lloyd. Ryoko turned her head to the side to look at Lloyd, just as Zelos gave the tube a good smack. There was a loud hissing sound, and the next thing they knew, Ryoko's ponytail was lying on the ground, sizzling. Zelos stared dumbfounded at what he had just done. An electric blue bar of light hummed a few inches from Ryoko's head, and now her hair was on the ground, severed from her head. Zelos just then realized what it could do to her flesh, and immediately slid the box back down, causing the blade to retract back into the handle. "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmm...whoops," said Zelos.

Ryoko tentatively touched her hair. Her face twisted, and she looked as though she was about to scream. Then she relaxed, and breathed out a sigh. "Well," she said, "that could have been a LOT worse! Don't worry about it, though; you didn't know that was going to happen." "Should've expected it, though," Zelos mused, "what with me having my luck. I thought it was a laser blade, and I just... didn't think about what would happen if it did turn on. I'm really sorry, Ryoko." She waved her hand dismissively. "It's okay," she said with a smile. "I said don't worry about it. I'm alive, so that's all that matters, okay?" Zelos shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose so," he conceded.

"So who gets it?" Zelos asked aloud. Everyone looked at him oddly. "What do you mean?" asked Yuan. "You found it," said Botta. "It's yours by right." "Well, I know that," Zelos said matter-of-factly. "But you haven't felt this thing. It doesn't...feel right. I only felt it for a second, but I'm pretty sure this thing would be a distinct challenge to handle." Xiaoxing suddenly raised her hand. "Ooh, ooh!" she said. "I know who, I know!" "Okay," Zelos said. "Who?" Xiaoxing pointed at Presea. "Her, Presea," she said. Zelos was taken aback. "Why?" he asked. "She has the Force, remember?" she said. "The Arbiter teaches her, he does. Star Wars weapon, Star Wars powers, they go together. Right?" Zelos chuckled. "You may have a point there," he said, still laughing. "Alright, then, everyone in favor of giving the saber to Presea, say aye!"

"AYE!"

Zelos shrugged. "It's unanimous, then," he said. "Presea, this is yours now." He presented the metal cylinder to her, pommel first. "But I already have an energy sword," she protested. The Arbiter shook his head. "No, this is good," he said. "The energy sword is not hard to master. This one may take some time. You can also give your energy sword to someone else in times of need, since it is not difficult to use. Besides, with two different types of energy blades mastered and at your disposal, you will make a fearsome warrior." "With what war to fight?" she asked. The Arbiter smiled. "We'll work on that," he replied.


	8. Chapter 8

Life began to settle back into a regular routine. No one was fighting to kill, and everything seemed to be doing well. The Arbiter kept teaching Presea, and she grew stronger every day. Eventually, Genis agreed to study as well. Raine started up a consistent class for the younger ones, assisted by none other than the Zelos Wilder. The results came back from the hospital; Sheena's pregnancy was a false positive. With further tests, it was proven that she was not going to have a child, even though the preliminary exam seemed conclusive enough. Sheena was disappointed, Lloyd was ecstatic, but everyone agreed it was just one less burden. In any case, everything seemed to be going fine.

Raine was home alone this Wednesday night. She had caught a bug, and was home in bed while everyone else was out doing all sorts of things. She found her Anime Explosion! book again, having lost it among the items Hurley would give her every time she visited his shop, and picked up where she left off. She had only begun reading when she came across something that made her stop and blink. "Did I just read that?" she asked herself aloud. She found the line with her finger: it was definitely there. She furrowed her brow, wondering what to make of it. After a moment's hesitation, she reached for the phone and dialed Ranma's house.

Ranma himself answered. "_Mushi mushi_," he said. "Ranma?" asked Raine. "Yeah, hey, what's up Raine?" he replied. "Not much," she said back. "Say, can you talk?" "Sure," he said. "What about?" She told him what. There was a silence on the other end. "So you know, then?" he said at last. He clucked his tongue. "Can I come over?" Ranma asked. "That'd be fine," Raine answered. "I'm sick, so I'm home right now. You can come over." "Good," said Ranma. "I'll be right over."

Ranma shivered on the couch, across from Raine, who was covering her almost naked body with a thin blanket. "Cold enough for you?" he asked. Raine shrugged helplessly with a smile, and wiped her brow. "Sorry," she said. "I've got a high fever, and I'm just so...hot! I'd stuff myself into the freezer right now if I could." Ranma nodded knowingly. "I see," he said, eyeing her blanket. "So then, I would really get more use out of that thing than you, huh?" She grinned. "If you want, I'll give it to you," she said. "I just need something to cover myself, you know?" Ranma shrugged. "I don't mind," he said. "I do have Akane, you know." Raine shrugged back. "Still..." she insisted. "Come on, Professor, if you're as hot as you say you are, you must be roasting right now. C'mon, just give it to me!" Raine sighed reluctantly. "Okay," she said, handing him the blanket. She sighed again, and stretched her arms and legs out. "You have a beautiful body, if it's not too bold to say," Ranma commented as he gratefully wrapped himself up. "Not at all," said Raine. "I like it when people compliment my figure. So, then, let's talk."

Ranma sobered slightly. "Ah, yes...where did you say you saw it?" he asked. Raine showed him her book. "Right here," she said, pointing to a page. Ranma skimmed through it, noting the references. "I see," he said, stroking his chin. He looked at Raine, who returned his gaze. He leaned closer to her. "Do you want to know a secret?" he whispered. A spark flickered in her eyes. "I'd love to," she replied. Ranma smiled. "I thought so," he said. He cleared his throat, and began.

"To answer your question: yes, Ranma 1/2 is about me and my friends. It is a very accurate account of a good deal of our adventures, as told by Rumiko Takahashi. Now, here's the secret: there are many, many similar cases. As a matter of fact, many of the movies, animes, mangas, comic books, video games, books, and the like that are a part of this world's pop culture and are considered fiction are actually _fact_. Or at least based in fact, as the case may be. The truth is that there is a lot going on behind the scenes that most of the world doesn't know about, wonderful, incredible stuff. And most of it is just too good to pass up. You know of Star Wars? That's real. My story? That's real. Most of the animes in that book are real. Ryoko and her friends star in a series called Real Bout High School. The Arbiter's group the Covenant are featured in a very popular game, Halo, and its sequel, Halo 2. I take it you've heard of them from your expression. Oh, I see, so you all do play it. Okay, so you know that. Oh, and did you know that there is already a game about your adventures? No fooling! Have you been told about the Men in Black? Yep, there were two movies made about them.

So you see, there's a lot of amazing things going on that people are willing to pay for to use. Sure, imagination is fine, but you need inspiration. And as far that inspiration is needed, it is used. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to draw some pictures and make them do things, but what they are doing and how, that's the key. I mean, for some stuff, like that anime porn, that's the easiest thing in the world to do. You already know what everyone likes, and then you do it again, tweaking it to your liking. But to come up with a truly outstanding story, often times, you're going to need an idea, something that's already happened."

Raine nodded, absorbing this. "You don't believe me, do you?" Ranma asked. She shook her head. "No, it makes perfect sense," she said. "How else could the stuff the Arbiter is teaching Presea be so similar to what George Lucas came up with if it wasn't real?" Ranma nodded. "Exactly," he said. "They need inspiration.

How do they get that inspiration, though? Simple. They find someone who's story they like, they ask if they want to let their story be told as fiction, and then they name some numbers. Often, very irresistable numbers. Since Rumiko decided to stick close to our story, she paid well. Others aren't paid so well, because the buyer's work is only based on their lives, not documenting it. There's a whole underground organization devoted to doing all this. They hide the real people, they issue royalties to the inspiring figures, everything that goes along with this idea. And it has never been discovered. It doesn't answer to the government, because as far as the suits are concerned, their little operation doesn't even exist. It was never announced, no one knows about it unless they allow it. And once you know about it, it is your job to keep the secret. Which...I just spilled to you..."

Raine shrugged. "If what you say is true, then I should already know about it," she said. "I mean, if someone's made a video game about us, we should be paid and therefore be informed about it, right?" Ranma snapped his fingers. "That's it!" he said. "We never told them about you! They don't know that you're here yet! See, there were spies in your world, documenting your actions, and when they came back, they sold it. They figured you'd never make it over here so...well anyways, yeah! We need to tell them, and that way we can let you guys into the club! Believe me, it is one thing to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but to meet Willy, well..." He chuckled. "That's something REALLY different!"

Raine waved goodbye to Ranma through the window and returned to the couch. She wondered how long it would take before anyone realized she was faking. Why would she, with her powerful healing techniques, be unable to cure herself? Inconceivable, she thought it to be. She turned up the thermostat on the wall behind her and picked up her staff, which had been lying on the ground next to the sofa. She whispered a few words to herself, relieving her of the fever she had given herself. She stopped perspiring and her temperature returned to normal. She always made sure she was realistic and thorough.

She looked at the clock; only seven fourteen. She was about to reach for the remote control when she heard a key turn in the doorknob. Instinctively, she turned to look. Sheena waved a hello. "Hi Raine," she said. "Just dropped by to pick up some aspirin." Raine got up and began to follow her to the kitchen. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Headache? Cramps?" Sheena chuckled. "Both," she replied. "You have a real knack for that." Raine shrugged and smiled. "It's a gift," she said simply. "You know...I could relieve your symptoms for you." "Really?" Sheena asked. "You could do that?" Her expression turned suspicious. "Then why are you sick?" she asked deviously. "Umm, well..." Raine faltered. Sheena broke into a smile. "I knew it," she said. "If you didn't want to come with any of us, you should have said so!" Raine shrugged again. "This was more fun," Raine said simply.

Sheena remembered what Raine said. "So, can you get rid of my pain, then?" Sheena asked. Sheena thought she saw Raine pale quickly and return to normal, but she couldn't be sure. "Well, I suppose," Raine said uncomfortably. "Come on, Raine," Sheena said. "I'm in pain and you're having second thoughts about helping me?" "Well, no..." Raine stammered. "Then just do it!" exclaimed Sheena. Apparently giving in, Raine slumped slightly. "Okay," she said reluctantly. "But don't get weirded out; it has to be done this way." "O--kay," said Sheena, suddenly wondering if aspirin wouldn't have been better. Raine stepped in close to her. "Um, close your eyes, if you would," Raine said. Sheena did so, her heart beginning to race at the thoughts of what Raine had to do.

She heard Raine speaking softly, almost chanting. Then she felt a hand rest on her forehead, and another just above her belt. There they laid, while nothing else happened. She wondered what was going on, and was about to open her eyes when Raine's hands tensed and dug into her. Sheena suppressed a yelp, and allowed herself to be pushed back onto the counter. Raine's hands relaxed, and left her body. Sheena stood back up and opened her eyes. "It didn't work," she said. "I still hurt." "I know," said Raine in an odd voice. She had almost realized what kind of voice it was when Raine took her head in her hands, said one unfamiliar word, and then kissed her, deeply and passionately. Sheena closed her eyes in shock and pain as her head swam dizzingly. Raine held the kiss for a long moment, and then released Sheena and spat in the sink.

Sheena sat back on the counter, feeling woozy. Raine rinsed her mouth with water and spit it out. She turned to Sheena. "So how do you feel?" she asked Sheena. Sheena looked up at her incredulously. "How do I feel!" she asked angrily. Then she smiled, and laughed in disbelief. "Wonderful. Better than new. Thanks for asking. But couldn't you have just waved your staff to do the same thing?" "Sure," said Raine. "But you didn't because...?" Sheena prodded. Raine smiled broadly. "This was more fun," she said simply.

Presea sat in her bed, staring straight ahead, unblinking. "Presea?" came Genis' tired voice from the bed next to hers. "You alright?" Presea didn't respond for a good minute, until her head turned, almost mechanically, to regard him with the same, only-occasionally-blinking stare. "This training from the Arbiter," she said. "It's really something. The things he's taught me about the Holy Force are very useful. But sometimes there are times when I can't resist using them, even when I know I shouldn't." Genis shook his tired head. "What in blazes are you even talking about?" he asked wearily. Presea abruptly cracked a very wide, very crooked smile. "I'm saying," she said, "that I pretty much can know what anyone near me is doing. Just like I know what most of them are doing right now." Genis shook his head again. "Sleeping, unlike us?" he hazarded, eyes closed. Presea's smile went away. Then she turned her head back to center, laid back down, pulled the sheets up to her neck, and closed her eyes. Her huge smile returned. "You'd like to think that," she said, smile never wavering.

Genis blinked his suddenly wide eyes, and saw her smile. "Ummmm..." he said uncertainly. "Precisely," said Presea. For a moment, no one said anything. Then Presea began to snicker, and not long after that they were both laughing so hard they found it hard to breathe. Soon they were asleep, both of them with huge, broken smiles on their faces.

The next morning, Genis and Presea shared small smiles that belied their incredible mirth. During and after breakfast, they kept glancing furtively at all their friends, and every once in a while they would burst out laughing and then suddenly stop, while they stared stone-faced at each other, only to start laughing again. Then they would chase each other around the house, slamming doors and running into stuff. Nearly everyone thought several times of asking what in the world had gotten into their heads, but no one was game enough to do it. Well, Zelos would have, if he believed he could have gotten a straight, truthful answer to the question.

Raine was reading the newspaper when she heard the lightsaber activate upstairs. "You'd better not break anything," she called, not looking away from her paper. The saber closed down again and everything was quiet again. Almost...too quiet...

Raine had no time to consider the implications of the sudden silence, for she was immediately pelted with a barrage of various objects, from shoes to cheese sticks. She turned and glared at the upstairs balcony. Everyone pointed, laughed, and then ran into their rooms and locked the doors. Raine shook her head tiredly, and, even irritated, couldn't help but smile. "Ah, to be young again," she said to herself. A door opened, and Yuan stuck his head out. "You don't have to be young!" he shouted. "Just insane! Come on, we already know you are!" He slammed the door shut again. Raine closed her eyes in supreme irritation and rubbed her temples. A mischeivous grin spread across her face. "Alright," she said to herself. "I'll play your little game." Taking up her staff, an egg beater, and a deck of cards, Raine started up the stairs to begin her reign of terror.

"Mm-mmhh," moaned Colette, rubbing her temples. "What's up?" asked Lloyd, taking an ice pack out of the freezer and placing it atop his head. "The professor beat you that hard?" Colette shook her head. "Could you...talk a a little softer?" she whispered. "Sure," Lloyd whispered back. "You got a headache or something?" She nodded, wincing. "Every once in a while, my angel powers return full force, usually just for a few hours, but sometimes for days," she explained very softly. "And when they do, I usually get bad headaches because everything is so loud to me, and sometimes my eyes hurt when I see a screen, or even just for no reason, apparently." Lloyd nodded sympathetically. Then he smiled. "I think I have an idea," he whispered to her. "What?" she asked. He grinned. "You'll see," he said.

"Okay, open your eyes," Lloyd whispered Colette. She did so, to find Lloyd standing in front of her, holding his hands behind his back. He brought them forward and opened them. "Ta-da," he whispered. "Oh, thank you Lloyd!" she exclaimed, then clutched her head in pain. "What exactly did you get?" She examined the objects in Lloyd's hands. "This is a pair of sound-dampening headphones," he whispered, indicating the package in his right hand. "And this is a light-proof blindfold, and this is a bottle of aspirin!" He indicated his left hand. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. "Oh, Lloyd!" she whispered in his ear. "I love you!" Lloyd felt her heave oddly. His brow furrowed in confusion. Then he felt moisture on his shoulder and realized she was crying. "What's wrong?" he asked gently. "Nothing," she whispered. "And that's just it." She released him and wiped her eyes. "Well, not nothing, really," she said. "It's just I was thinking about how lucky I am to have such a good friend like you, and to have all my other friends. I'm sorry if I got emotional." Lloyd just stared. "You're really weird," he said in a funny voice. Then he smiled, and hugged Colette again. Giving her his gifts, he said with a polite nod, "Enjoy!"

Staring in silence at the screen, the entire household watched as almost every one of their outfits walked down a runway and back. "Hmm," said Kratos. Someone sitting next to them in the club snorted. "Who would actually wear that stuff?" the woman said, shaking her head. "Hey, now-" began Zelos, before a blow to the head from Raine shut him up. "Don't," she warned.

Lloyd returned to watching the show. He squeezed his wife's waist and she looked at him. "Our clothes aren't that bad, are they?" he whispered into Sheena's ear. She shrugged. "Well, we already got the money, so who cares?" she whispered back. Lloyd had to agree with her. "Dirk," said Colette. They both looked at her. She smiled. "He would care, because he made your clothes, right?" They both looked at her. "What?" she asked. Zelos leaned over and whispered something in his not-too-bright-wife's ear. "Ohhh," she said. She looked from him back to them, and then back to him again. "Really?"

"What did you just tell her?" Sheena demanded. Zelos slapped his knee and burst out laughing. "HEY!" said Zelos, sitting up straight and pointing a finger at Genis and Presea, who were at the end of the bar area, holding each other and kissing. An uncomfortable amount of people were looking over at them. They began to blush. Suddenly Zelos started laughing again, so hard that he fell off his chair. Unfortunately for him, he hit another metal barstool's leg on the way down with his head. A bottle fell off the counter, thunking him on his head and splashing blood-red wine on his clothes. Everyone stared, wondering how bad he was hurt. An "I probably deserved that" floated up, and everyone relaxed and laughed. Genis shrugged. Presea shrugged. They kissed again, and Zelos remained unbearably happy and miserable at the same time. He got back on his stool, and sighed. "I love this family," he said, taking out his cell phone and pressing the speed dial number for his second home, the dry-cleaners.

"Tu-tu-touche," gasped the instructor. Presea's breathing was hardly labored at all. She lowered her blunted rapier and breathed deeply. The fencing instructor removed his helmet and set it aside. Presea did likewise. The sword master was sweating profusely, exhausted from his battle.

"There is nothing more I can teach you about fencing," he said at last. "If you want to learn about other types of swordfighting and swordplay, take this." He extended his hand, a black business card tucked between two fingers. Presea took it, examined it a moment, and looked back down at him. "Thank you," she said, bowing low. "It was my pleasure to train such an apt pupil," he said with a smile. "I only wish I could have spent more time with such a good girl. Well, now my friends will have the honor of training the great Presea Combatir. I wish you the best of luck in your training." He stood up and bowed before her. "Thank you again," she said. Turning on her heel, she walked briskly away to change and call her new trainers.

The instructor watched her as she strode purposefully to the locker room, his eyes never leaving Presea. "Such a good girl," he murmured to himself. "I hope she never forgets that."

Raine stared off into space, her eyes seeing the ceiling above her but not taking any note of it. "What are you thinking, Professor?" asked Botta. Raine turned her head to look at the man sitting on the couch adjacent to the one she was lying on. "You're an educated man, Botta," she began. "So I'm sure you must know a lot about the dimensional transfer system back before Sylvarant and Tethe'alla were one." "Yes," said Botta cautiously. "Do you know much about what happened getting from Symphonia to Earth?" she asked. Botta frowned. "No, not much," he conceded. "I only knew what I was allowed to see, and that was not much." Raine nodded slowly. "Are you still hoping to get back soon?" Botta inquired.

"No," said Raine, her brow furrowing. "I was just thinking about how the Earth got, well, rewound, and now I wonder...I wonder if Symphonia did too?" Botta smiled. "Well, that is one thing I know," he said. "Besides what we were told by the MIB, the time warp was one thing Cruxis had encountered before. I remember you said to me once when you were explaining your theories to me, that the remainders of Cruxis must have gone back in time when they arrived on Earth? Well, that is true. I recall it now...and I don't really understand the specifics, but crossing over caused one to go back about ten years. So Cruxis showed up at that time, screwed up the timeline, and then when we got back to the time when Cruxis crossed over, we changed the timeline by destroying their distortion machine, which was actually doing something far more strange to time then make it go backwards or forwards." Raine stared at him, eyes wide. "Wow," she said. "I think that was the first time I'ver ever understood every word someone said to me and yet the meaning did not get across." Botta laughed.

"Well, don't worry about it," he said, standing up. "To answer your original question, yes, Symphonia must have gotten rewound as well because I have seen what Cruxis knew about the relationship between Symphonia and Earth, and it made it perfectly clear that that relationship was too tight for that event to not have occured." Raine continued to stare. "Okay, that made a little more sense," she said at last. Botta laughed again. She sighed and covered her head with a pillow. "Go away," she said, her voice muffled. "My head hurts, and if you make it worse, yours will too." Botta held up his hands in a gesture of defeat. "I know you too well," he said, "because I know that isn't an idle threat." He turned to leave, and Raine muttered, "Damn straight" under her breath. Botta stopped, smiled, and shook his head with a smile.

_2112, Phase 2. Down. Concealed. Disease._

_"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of it."_

_She knows something is wrong. She must stop it. She must find the circulator, or they will die. She must use the abandoned path, open the back door. She must..._

Presea saw darkness, and wondered what had happened. Her heart was still pounding. Tentatively, she opened her eyes, confused. She saw white ceiling in a dark room. It was then she realizedwith a rush of relief that she had been dreaming. It was different than the ones she usually had. This one had not been pictures, really, but thoughts, ideas, knowledge, almost as if someone were talking to her...

She frowned and tossed aside the sheets. She headed for the door and suddenly stopped at a touch on her arm. Genis was there, sleepy-eyed. He held up a robe. "You might want to wear something," he yawned. She furrowed her brow, confused. She looked down and saw she indeed was not wearing anything. Disturbed, she thanked him and took the robe, tying the sash in a knot around her waist. She headed out the door and closed it softly behind her. Pale grey light filtered in through the windows; it was still early. As she walked down the stairs, sliding her hand along the banister, she wondered how she could have forgotten to get dressed. No, not forgotten, she amended. How she could have thought she was already dressed, is what she meant. She had been certain she had worn her nightgown to bed. Perhaps she was still confused by, or focused on, the dream? Her feet touched cool stone, and she walked silently into the kitchen and sat down.

She rested her head in her hands as she put her elbows on the table, and then she thought deeply about what this dream could portend. How did it go? She couldn't quite remember...

"Hey, what's up?"

Presea leapt up out of her chair at the poke in her back. She nearly screamed but contained herself. She turned around reflexively, her arms in combat readiness instantly. Colette held her hands up and cowered slightly. "Hey, it's just me!" she exclaimed. Presea lowered her fists. She flushed slightly. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. Colette smiled. "It's okay," she said. "I heard someone get up, and I was wondering what was going on." Presea sighed and sat back down. She put her elbows back on the table and set her chin down in her hands. "Actually," she replied, staring straight ahead, "I'm not entirely certain myself." Colette sat down next to her. "What do you know?" she asked her friend. Presea shifted postion, so that her head was resting on knuckles instead of palms. "Well, it's about a dream," she said. "It was kind of odd, but I can't remember it...and it seemed important. And I want to know what it means, if anything, but I don't know what I should do...hmmm..."

There was a brief silence. Then, Colette spoke up. "Why not ask the Arbiter?" she suggested. "He seems to know about stuff like that, right?" Presea looked at Colette and smiled. "Why didn't I think of that?" she asked. "That's a good idea, Colette!" Colette smiled back. "Thanks!" she said. Presea got up and hugged Colette. "You are amazingly insightful sometimes, Colette, if also amazingly clumsy," she remarked. "And if there's such a thing as good luck, you are just about the epitome of it!" Colette chuckled. "Yep!" she said. "It's like Lloyd says: The best kind of klutz is a lucky one!" Presea had to laugh at that. "Alright, well, I'm going to go talk to the Arbiter," she said. "I'm sure he's up by now." Colette nodded. "Okay," she said. "I'll go ahead and start on breakfast since I'm up." Presea nodded and walked out of the room.

"Hmmmm," said the Arbiter at last. His eyes were closed, his hands clasped in his lap. He brought them to his forehead, and opened his eyes. After staring off into space for a moment, he let his attention return to Presea.Lowering his hands, he stared into Presea's eyes. "If you have this dream again," the Arbiter said, "try your best to remember it. Write down the details, if it helps. Then come to me again about it."

"Does it mean something?" asked Presea. The Arbiter stood up from his bed, and gazed out the window. "Perhaps," he said vaguely. "Sometimes, the Holy Force will show you things. The past, the present, the future, places you have never been, old friends long gone." Presea's heart skipped a beat. "Can I talk to people who have died?" she asked, trying hard to keep her voice normal. The Arbiter either did not notice or decided to let it pass. He seemed to struggle for words. "Most often," he finally managed, "you will but see them, relive your past with them, or just seem to sense their presence. Whether they are actually there remains to be proven. It has been reported that some have had talked to dead ones through the Holy Force, but..." He shrugged. "Anything is possible, Presea. You don't know if something is true or false until you find proof."

Presea nodded slowly, almost sadly. "I see," she said. "Well, I think I will go, then." The Arbiter nodded, and gestured with his hand, swinging open the door. "See you later," he said distractedly.

She went out into the hallway, her face downcast. She wasn't sure exactly how to take what the Arbiter had told her, but even if there was a slight chance...

She stopped in the hallway, her eyes closing in sorrow. Alicia, she thought to herself. A dull, aching lump formed in her heart and in her throat. She loved her sister so much...and she knew that no matter what, nothing would ever bring her back. No amount of revenge would revive her, no visions would bring her back to be with Presea.

Presea felt tears well up behind her eyelids, and with a moment's hesitation, she let them escape slowly. She opened her eyes to see if anyone was around. There was not. She walked awkwardly into her room and locked the door. She then sat down on the couch, and let the tears roll down her cheeks, while the intense longing burnt inside her. "Alicia," she whispered. "Why did you have to die? Why? Why..."

Regal sat up sharply in bed and clutched his chest. Raine was seated at the breakfast table with Colette, Sheena, Yuan, and Botta, talking rather loudly, when abruptly the conversation ended and silence descended on the kitchen. Lloyd, Genis, and Zelos were in their rooms, getting dressed, and all of them stopped, a heaviness weighing their whole bodies down. Kratos was out in the yard doing his morning exercise when suddenly he no longer had the energy to go on, and he looked back at the house in wonder.

The Arbiter sighed. Presea had struggled so hard not to show it before him, but it was obvious to him what she wanted, and he could not deliver. Now was as good a time as any for a lesson. Drawing the Force into himself, he shoved out the depression and felt the calm descend upon him. The same calm he would now try to give Presea.

Presea's tears had not dried up when there came a knock at her door. She wiped her eyes and went to open the door. The Arbiter looked down at her compassionately. "Come with me," he said.

They stood out in the woods, a stream babbling nearby. Their eyes were closed, their bodies motionless. "Do you hear the forest, Presea?" the Arbiter asked softly. "Yes," she whispered back. "Can you feel it?" he asked. Presea's brow furrowed. "I-," she began. "Yes or no," the Arbiter interrupted. Presea sighed. "No," she replied. "Then you must listen harder," the Arbiter said. "Listen as hard as you can, and then harder. Then try to listen farther than your ears allow. Listen with the Force." "But-" she began again, before the Arbiter cut her off again. "Don't talk," he said. "Just listen."

Presea opened her eyes, stared at the Arbiter a moment, then sighed and closed her eyes again. She took several deep breaths, releasing each slowly, trying to exhale the negativity right out of her body. Then she listened. She strained her ears to hear what the Arbiter was talking about. She concentrated, trying to listen to what was not there. She seemed to struggle against a barrier, one she could not break. She tapped the Force, let it flow into her and aid her senses...and then she was through. She could hear the forest living. She heard the life throbbing in it, the inexorable breathing of the trees. She matched her rhythm to the forests, and a deep, purging peace came upon her, clearing her head and making her smile.

The Arbiter spoked quietly again. "That is how I began to do it," he said. "Now, every time your feelings are clouding you and your judgment, not just influencing but _clouding, _reach out with the Force, feel it wrap around you and penetrate you, and just let it draw you into it, connecting you to everything around you. Then, when you can just let yourself be, you will find this calm, and it will do worlds of good to you, clearing your mind, giving you energy, and much much more. It is also quite effective after a fight. During it, you already know, the Force gives you knowledge, guidance, and strength. Afterwards, or during a pause, it can help you regain energy and help you rest more effectively." Presea opened her eyes again and nodded. "Thank you," she said.

"Hello?" Akane said. Ranma looked at her. "Yes," she said. Water dripped from her hair and ran down her shoulders and onto the floor. "Uh huh. No, not really. Okay. Ummmm, uh, I don't know..." Ranma shifted on his feet and folded his arms across his chest as he watched Akane talk on the phone. She glanced up at him, shaking more water from her hair. She had beaten him to answer it even though she was in the shower. She held her towel with one hand and the phone with the other. "Maybe," she said. "Yeah, okay. Yeah. Uhh...let's see..." She set the phone on her shoulder and bent her head to keep it from falling off. Opening a personal phone book, she thumbed through it until she found the page she wanted. She read off a series of numbers and closed the book. "Sure. No problem. Bye." She hung up the phone and sighed.

"Who was it?" asked Ranma. "Raine," said Akane, opening the door to the bathroom. "She wanted to talk to Ryoko Mitsurugi but had lost her phone number, so she asked if we had it. And we did." Ranma nodded. Akane flicked on the light and headed into the bathroom. She looked over her shoulder and smiled. She snapped her wrist and took off the towel. Ranma's eyes went wide. She reached out with a foot and shut the door. He stood staring at the door for a while. Then he shook his head, laughed, and went back downstairs.

_2112, Phase 2. Down. Concealed. Disease._

_"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of it."_

_She knows something is wrong. She must stop it. She must find the circulator, or they will die. She must use the abandoned path, open the back door. She must..._

Presea woke up. This time, she knew exactly where she was and what she was doing. She sat up and grabbed a pen and paper from her nightstand and wrote down everything exactly as she remembered it. Hurriedly, she tore off the sheet of paper from the pad it was attached to and rushed to get it to the Arbiter. She ran into him in the hallway and breathlessly handed him the page, heart thudding away in her chest.

The Arbiter read it, and read it again. He seemed to be looking for something that he could not see with his eyes. He gave a long sigh and handed the sheet of paper to her. "Well?" she asked, wringing her hands. "What do you think?"

"From all appearances," he began slowly, "it would appear you have a precognitive dream here. However, that does not mean it to be true. It may very well be, though..." He trailed off, lost in his own thoughts. He shook his head after a moment and then squatted down, looking squarely into Presea's eyes. "Investigate that number and phrase," he said somberly. "You may find some answers there." She nodded her assent. He returned her a quick nod and a brief smile. "Well then," he said. With that, he got back up and made only the faintest noise as he slipped down the stairs, leaving Presea alone with her thoughts, and the paper that might give her the answers she was looking for. Looking down at it, she didn't notice the Arbiter until he was standing before her again. She raised her head and jumped slightly in surprise. The Arbiter didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he said to her gravely, "Don't forget, Presea, that the future is always changing; it is never set. You can change the course of events in your life with your decisions. Don't ever believe that your destiny is fixed. You control your life. No one else. And these dreams..." He paused and gazed down at the floor. "They're just guides, visions of what _could_ be, what will _probably_ be, not what for certain _will _be. Remember that." Presea nodded slowly.

As the Arbiter turned his back to her to leave, she stopped him. "How do you know our destiny isn't fixed?" she asked him. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "Because no one knows what their future is," he said simply. "How can you say your destiny is fixed if you don't know what it is?" He shrugged. "Even if it is fixed, it's best to live as if it isn't. Because you never know. In my experience, there is no such thing as fate." He chuckled. "I wouldn't be here today if I believed that my future was predetermined."

"Where would you be?" Presea asked. The Arbiter regarded her with a humorous look.

"In a coffin, in the ground," he said. A thought struck him. "Do you know about airplanes?" Presea nodded, a little taken aback. "Do you know why a lot of people are afraid to ride them, and would prefer driving to their destination?"

Presea shook her head. "Because they're more dangerous and unreliable than cars?" she ventured. The Arbiter made his grimace-smile.

"No," he said. "Traveling by airplane is by far the safest way to travel. Less people die in airplanes than they do getting killed by wild animals. Cars are far, far more dangerous to travel in."

Presea frowned. "So, why do a lot of people prefer them then?" she asked, slightly confused.

"Control," said the Arbiter. "It is all about control. People fear airplanes because they have no control over the plane. If it goes down, there will be nothing they can do about it. In a car, the driver has control over his life. If he gets into a situation, whatever happens, he is in control. Many people find it comforting to know that whatever happens, they'll be doing everything they can, even until the end." He tilted his head to look at a painting on the wall. "And that's the way it is with predestination. People like to think they are in control of their lives, and the thought of predestination sometimes scares or depresses people, because they feel that they might as well not try, because they think the same thing will happen no matter what. They do dangerous things because they believe nothing can happen to them until it's their time. Which is complete foolishness, of course." He stopped looking at the painting and turned to stare at her. "So then, the only question left is this: Are you going to be the kind of person who will rush headlong into dangerous things or give up and not try, believing that nothing you do matters, or are you going to be the sort of person who believes their life is theirs to control, and who is going to make wise decisions with their life and make good use of it?"

Presea stared down at the floor sullenly. After a moment, she tilted her head up, and then brought it up to center, her eyes closed, tears brimming at the edges. When she opened them, they were full of passion and determination. "I'm going to control my life," she whispered fiercely. The Arbiter smiled proudly. "I'm glad to hear it," he said.


	9. Chapter 9

_2112, Phase 2, 107. Down. Concealed. Disease._

_"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of it."_

_She knows something is wrong. She must stop it. She must find the circulator, or they will die. She must use the abandoned path, open the back door. She must, but one will die..._

Presea eyes opened and she was instantly alert, her heart thumping loudly in her ears. This time, the dream had been more real and urgent than ever. Perhaps the foretold event was drawing closer? Presea got out of bed and dressed quickly. She called her lightsaber to her hand and grasped it nervously before putting it in her custom made concealed holster.

She greeted Lloyd on the way down to the kitchen. As she did so, and odd feeling tickled her neck. A premoniton? Presea shook her head inwardly. Whatever it was, if it was important, it would become apparent to her. The Arbiter had drilled into her a critical lesson: be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the moment. If you are too distracted contemplating what the future might be, you are likely to make errors in what you were doing at the time, sometimes even fatally. The Arbiter stressed it until he was certain that Presea had understood the import of it. And it had worked; she reminded herself every morning that her focus centered on the here and now. Sometimes, she thought to herself, one could get so involved in the here and now that they don't pay attention to the future at all. It was all about striking the right balance, she decided.

Presea slowed as she drew closer to the kitchen door. There was something not right, almost like...

Her suspiciousness hardened into certainty as she focused her senses, until she finally stopped right before the doorway to the dining area. After a few heartbeats, Presea abruptly drew her lightsaber, ignited it and swung it around to a thrusting position with precise control, all in one fluid motion lasting but a second. The tip of the energy blade hovered a centimeter from where she knew the neck must be.

"You are beaten," she said cooly.

"Oh, I don't think so," said an equally level girl's voice. A bubble of blue-violet power flickered into existence before Presea. It brushed against the blade, repelling it and whipping Presea's arm back involunitarily. Caught off balance, she soon found herself encased in a hollow sphere of the same blue-violet energy. A girl with long black hair covering half her face materialized outside the bubble.

She smirked in a friendly way and observed, "Looks like we've both gotten better, huh?" Presea smirked back and stretched out her arm in front of herself. The bubble vanished as the girl who made it was thrown bodily into the air, where she stayed.

"Yep," said Presea, "we have." They stared at each other for a moment, one on the ground and the other floating, until finally their steely facades melted away into laughter. Presea let Aegis down and they hugged. "So good to see you again!" said Presea. "How have you been?" Aegis just shrugged.

"Pretty good, all things considered," she said.

"That's good," said Presea.

"What's all the ruckus?" The girls looked up to see a sleepy Zelos looking down at them from the second story balcony. "I can't get my beauty sleep with all this noise going on!"

"Oh, don't worry Zelos," Presea said. "You're already way too gorgeous."

"Uh, thanks, I think," said Zelos while he rubbed his eyes. "Hey, is that-" He cut off when he saw the black-haired girl. "Hey, it is you!" He bounded down the stairs and slid on the smooth tile floor. Skidding to a stop before the girls, Zelos broke out into a grin. "Well, what do you know! Long time no see, man! I mean, girl!" He pumped her hand enthusiastically.

"Hi, Zelos," said Aegis. "It's good to see you, too." Zelos beamed.

"So what are you doing here?" asked Presea. "Is your family here too?"

"Yeah, somewhere," Aegis said. "Technically, we're here on vacation. I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I'd drop by. We'll be in town for a couple of weeks, so maybe we could do something while we're here. You could give us your number or something." Presea nodded, and reached for her back pocket.

"Here you go," she said, withdrawing a white card from her wallet and handing it over to- "Ah, I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

"Violet," said the girl as she took the card. Presea and Zelos both mouthed the word "Violet".

"I like that name," said Zelos.

"Me too," Presea said thoughtfully.

"What's this?" Violet asked pointing at the card.

"Oh, that's our business card," replied Presea. "You see, a good number of us became a fighting group named Cartharsis (thanks to Kratos for the name!), and now all of us are in on it. So instead of having to write down all of our numbers anytime we wanted to give them to friends of ours, we just hand them this card and there you go, you have all of our numbers, plus the house phone."

"Cool!" said Violet. Something beeped, and Violet pulled out a cell phone. She flipped it open and read the text on the screen. "Oh. Well, I have to go. We're gonna meet in a little while, and my parents will get upset if I'm late. I guess I'll see you later then!" Violet gave them each a quick hug and said goodbye before going out the front door and jogging down the street.

"Well, it certainly was nice to see her again," Presea said. "Hopefully we'll be able to do something soon."

"Yeah," Zelos agreed. "So, what are you doing up so early?" He glanced at a nearby clock. "Only seven on a Saturday." Presea shrugged.

"Well, the reason I woke up was because of a dream," she explained, "but I remembered after I was up that the Arbiter and I were going to do a little practice this morning."

"Oh, really?" Zelos said with a stroke of his chin. "What kind of practice?"

Presea smiled. "Want to come and see?"

Presea took a deep breath, exhaled, and repeated. She bent her neck to the left and to the right, releasing the tension in her neck with grinding, cracking noises. She popped her fingers, shook herself loose, and worked her fingers at her sides. Then, with one fluid motion, she swept up her lightsaber in her hand, lit it up, and positioned it between herself and where she felt the Arbiter to be.

"Wait a moment," she said. Lowering her saber, she reached her free hand to the back of her head and, with the aid of the Holy Force, retied the knot of her blindfold. "Okay," she said, bringing her sword back up to defensive position in two hands. The Arbiter nodded, and activated his rifle and triple-checked to make sure it was on stun power only. Then, with an incredibly steady hand acquired through years of training, he leveled the weapon at his pupil, and fired.

She sensed the bolt before it left the gun, and she moved her blade to a horizontal position, easily blocking the energy beam. But then, that was supposed to be the easy part. Now it would get harder. The Arbiter squeezed the trigger quite a bit harder. A succession of four projectiles burst out of the weapon's "muzzle", for lack of a better word. Presea moved her lightsaber nimbly to deflect each shot, first vertical, then to the bottom left, top right, bottom right, all her moves connecting seamlessly, her footwork sure and graceful. Again he squeezed the trigger, but this time, he did not, and would not, stop.

Presea's body whirled and spun, deflecting the blasts that she could not dodge, blocking, ducking, leaping, all the while blind as an earthworm. Zelos whistled softly. And not only did she deflect these bolts, he noted, but she made them go _where she wanted them to go_. He could tell from the way none of them ever went in the direction the Arbiter, himself, the house, or any of the neighbors. Even out here in the woods, she would make sure they hit the ground or flew off into the sky rather than to wound some unsuspecting tree or bush. _Now that_, Zelos thought as he watched captivated, _is skill_.

Eventually, after a long period of extended fire at low power, the plasma rifle overheated, signaling the end of the training. Or so Zelos thought. While the Arbiter had tossed the gun aside and had waited a moment for Presea to catch the breath she had barely lost, in the next he broke out his own sword and lunged at Presea. She leapt straight up in the air a good twelve feet to avoid the Arbiter's powerful strike, landing firmly on two feet behind him, her sword again in the ready, defensive position. The Arbiter had turned around and was again advancing on her. When he got within range he swiped at Presea, who blocked his horizontal attack with a vertical parry. He spun around and hacked savagely at her, but she darted out of the way each time. He struck at her flanks several times, and each time she blocked the blow and moved right on to the next. The Arbiter swiped at her head and she ducked, giving her a clean shot at his ribs. She thrusted and he twisted out of the way, attempting a hasty blow at her back. But she anticipated it and smoothly angled her sword back around herself and caught the Arbiter's strike. She spun around and slashed at his midsection and he blocked it with the flat of his sword. He suddenly lashed out with his hoof and kicked her in the stomach, sending her sprawling across the dirt floor into a tree trunk. He leapt up and brought his sword up behind his head, going for a powerful, heavy blow to finish the fight. Presea just managed to get her lightsaber up in time to parry, but the hit was so forceful it knocked the lightsaber out of her hand and far away from her.

Zelos continued to hold his breath.

The Arbiter slammed his sword down again, this time biting into the wood of the tree. He pulled out his blade and stabbed at Presea, who was now on her feet. Blindingly fast she yanked her energy sword out of her belt, switched it on, and rammed it into the Arbiter's own two-pronged blade. They both leaned into their swords hard. Presea held out her hand at the Arbiter, and he did the same. Zelos had no idea what was going on, but he could tell some immense clash of wills was happening in a way he could not see in the air, only in their faces and bodies. The two fighters strained against each other until finally, something gave and they both shot their hands out to the right. The air seemed to shimmer with intense heat, and the dirt roiled as if in terrible winds. The wave slammed into a huge oak tree, obliterating it in a shower of wood chips and leaves. Presea kept her arm stretched out, but aimed it to the ground. Her lightsaber shot up out of the dirt and ignited in her hand. She now took the offensive, slashing with two blades, fighting as surely as if she only had one. Leaves and chunks of wood rained down on them. None of them noticed. Presea attacked furiously, yet with a sort of calm manner that let both of them know that she was very much in control. Finally, the Arbiter wore down and was knocked back against a tree, where he found himself at the receiving end of two blades of energy. The Arbiter smiled.

"I knew you would," said the Arbiter. Presea smiled back. She turned off her swords and hung them on her belt. The Arbiter did likewise. Presea offered him a hand and he gratefully took it. They walked over to where Zelos stood, mouth agape.

"What did you think?" asked Presea. Zelos shook his head slowly.

"All I know," he said with his eyes closed, "is that I am really, really, REALLY glad I brought the camcorder!"

Presea hung her towel on the towel rack next to the shower and stepped in. She shut the door and turned the water on as cold as possible. The spray was icy; it made her gasp. But it was very refreshing after she had exercised so hard and heated herself up so much. And yet...

Despite the good feeling of cleanliness she was left with after she toweled off her body, she could not help the gnawing sense of worry that dwelt in the back of her mind. Presea knew what it was, but she was powerless to change it. How could she control her dreams? She shook her head. Even though the thought of what the dream might mean frightened her, she just wished whatever it was would just happen so she could stop wondering what it meant. Wrapping the towel around herself snugly, she left the bathroom and went into her room.

Locking the door behind herself, she dropped her towel and stretched. She also loved how it felt to walk around without clothes on, but again, she was not enjoying it now. She frowned. She needed another talk with the Arbiter; if this thing was worrying her so bad she couldn't even enjoy the simple pleasures in life, she had better find out what it was.

Walking over to her dresser, she opened a few drawers and selected some clean underwear. She was stooped over with her panties around her ankles when she stopped. A smirk crossed her face. _Of course, _she thought. _Duh. His timing is always uncanny._ She pulled up her underwear and called out to the empty room.

"Are you gonna come in or just watch me get dressed?" she said as she put her arms through her bra. She could feel his amusement, and the lock twisted in the doorknob. The Arbiter stepped in and folded his arms across his chest. Presea just looked back at him as she hooked the straps.

"What?" they asked at the same time. Both of them laughed. "You have really great timing, you know that?"

"Oh yes?" said the Arbiter.

"Yeah. I was just about to go talk to you."

"That's not uncanny timing."

"No, just mind-reading."

"Now _that_ is one thing I can't do (as far as I know)."

"Then what was it?"

The Arbiter shrugged. "Just a feeling," he said. "I would expect you to understand that."

Presea smiled faintly as she fastened her belt. "Yeah," she said in a soft tone.

"So then," said the Arbiter, "what was it you wanted to talk about? Your dream, perhaps?"

Presea nodded.

"I see it eating away at your mind," said the Arbiter quietly.

Presea suddenly had to push away tears that threatened to take her.

"What can I do?" she asked, forcing firmness into her voice, hoping the Arbiter would not hear her despair.

The Arbiter stood silent for a moment with eyes closed. They did not move behind his lids. He finally heaved a sigh and opened his eyes. He made a face and then shook his head.

"Well, I am not sure, however," he said, "however it seems to me that you are looking too hard. I believe that if a dream has importance, it will unfold by itself. And if it has none, well then, worrying about it would have been a waste of time, then, no? I think...I think that you should try to push it aside, put it in a place where you will remember it if you see signs of it, but where it cannot concern you. Hopefully you can find that place."

Presea sighed and sat down on her bed, burying her head in her hands.

"Is something wrong?" asked the Arbiter gently.

She hesitated before answering.

"All this time," she said slowly, "I've only been working on the physical. I have almost no training in the mental arenas of this Holy Force of yours. I need it badly, Arbiter. I need it now, because there is so much I don't understand."

The Arbiter nodded. "I see now my mistake as a teacher," he said. "I will do my best to correct it. I could start now, or perhaps you'd like to begin at another time?"

She lifted her head from her hands. Her eyes were red and her hands were moist. "Now," she said. "I need relief now."

Zelos let his jaw hang slightly open as he stared at the screen while resting his head on Colette's shoulder. "Are you-" he began, before Colette shushed him.

"Shh!" she warned. "I'm trying to talk to this guy about how to take care of the calf!"

Zelos stared with a glazed eye and a slack jaw. "So, you're a farmer?" he askedly tired, not really caring if she was a famer or an astronaut. He got no reply. "Can we just watch the tape real quick?"

"In a minute," Colette said as she stared intently at the words scrolling across the screen.

"Which translates to: I don't care about your stupid tape I just wanna play some dumb farming game forever," Zelos muttered to himself.

"You know," Colette said, not taking her eyes off the TV, "just because I'm not listening doesn't mean I can't hear you."

Zelos stared up at the ceiling from where he landed. _Colette, _he thought to himself, _is_ _living proof of why "understanding women" is an oxymoron._ _It's a good thing I like the unknown, otherwise being married to a woman would be hell!_

Zelos sighed and picked himself up off the floor. He wandered into the kitchen, past Kratos, and over to the fridge. "Hey Kratos," said Zelos as examined the contents of the refrigerator. Kratos coughed and said hello back in a funny voice.

"Yo, Kratos," said Zelos, looking over the door of the fridge at his friend, "your voice sounds really-" Zelos trailed off as his eyes locked on to the little plastic bear in Kratos' hand. Zelos lifted an eyebrow. "Were you just drinking the honey?" he asked.

Kratos looked ashamed. "I couldn't help myself," he admitted. Zelos shrugged as if it were something not totally weird. "We'll just have to buy more," he said. "Do you get these cravings often?" Kratos was silent.

"Okay," said Zelos with a grin at Kratos. "We'll have to buy a lot more." He shut the door and laughed.

Sheena heard the phone ringing while she was in the shower. She yelled at Lloyd to get it when it was clear no one was going to get it. Grumbling, he reluctantly obeyed and went out into the hallway. He snatched up the phone and held it lazily to his ear. "Hello?" he answered.

Lloyd was greeted by an explosive cough that made him flinch slightly. "Sorry," said a weary, congested voice from the other end of the line. "This is Ryoko."

"Oh, hey Ryoko," said Lloyd, his face brightening, then quickly darkening. "Is everything all right? You sound really sick."

"Oh man, am I!" she replied. "That's what I was calling you about. I remember you guys saying once that your friend Raine is a healer, right? Well, I'm kind of strapped for cash, and to go to the hospital to see a doctor would cost...well, a lot more than I can afford right now, and, well, I was just wondering if, you know..."

Lloyd stopped her. "Of course, Ryoko," he told her. "Raine would be glad to be of service to you. Here, let me go find her for you."

"Thanks, Lloyd."

Lloyd bounded down the stairs, the phone still to his ear. "So what is it you're sick with, do you know?" Lloyd asked, peeking around corners for Raine. He passed Yuan and Martel and mouthed a silent _Where's Raine?_ They pointed behind themselves and mouthed _backyard_. He thanked them silently as Ryoko began to answer.

"I really wouldn't know," she said. "It feels kind of like the flu, only worse, and sort of...different somehow."

"That doesn't sound too good," Lloyd said at the backdoor before he opened it and went outside.

"No, I guess it doesn't. Kind of scary, huh?"

"I'll say." Lloyd found Raine working with Regal in a vegetable garden. "Well, here's Raine. Talk to you later, Ryoko."

"Okay. Bye."

"Hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks. I hope I will too."

Lloyd handed the phone over to Raine, who began to talk to Ryoko. "Who is it?" Regal asked Lloyd.

"Ryoko Mitsurugi," he replied. "She's sick, pretty bad."

"Hmm," said Regal.

Raine hung up the phone and handed it back to Lloyd. "Come on, you guys," she said. "Ryoko's sick and I'm gonna go head over to her place right now, and I'd really appreciate your help."

"What can we do?" Lloyd asked doubtfully.

Raine hesitated, and looked at the ground. Finally she answered.

"I don't know," she said, "but I have a bad feeling about this. I want you guys to be with me. I don't know why, but I feel like I'm going to need you."

Regal and Lloyd looked at each other.

"Say no more,"said Regal.

Raine was unlocking the door when Presea came up behind them.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To Ryoko's," said Lloyd. "She's got some weird disease or something like that, according to the Professor."

_Disease._

Presea's heart skipped a beat. "Where?" she said, a gnawing sense of dread setting in. "Where does she live?"

Regal glanced at the piece of paper Raine had written the address on. "Two thousand one hundred and twelve Makita Drive, Phase 2 of the Cayenne Apartments, apartment 107," he read.

_2112, Phase 2, 107._

Her face hardened and her jaw set. "I have to go with you," she said.

"Don't worry about it," said Lloyd, and a vicious claw gripped Presea's heart. "We'll take care of it. Ryoko will be fine."

_"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of it."_

But Presea insisted. "I must," she said. "I have to. You would understand if you knew of my dream."

Lloyd was about to protest again but Raine laid her hand on his shoulder. "Lloyd," she said firmly. "Her powers are strong and, as I'm sure you've noticed, her senses are greatly improved because of what the Arbiter has taught her. It's not too far a stretch to believe she may have gained some...more unusual abilities. Either way, it's obviously important to her. Let's be kind and respect her wishes."

Lloyd nodded. "I know all that," he said. "I was going to say that maybe Ryoko might not be in the mood for too many visitors, but..." He shrugged. "Well, I don't think one more person would be too bad. Besides, we're all her friends."

"Right," said Regal. "Well, let's go then, shall we?"

Presea's heart thumped loudly in her ears as they walked up to the door. _This is it,_ she thought. She hadn't opened her eye the whole ride here, and when she opened them she only got more apprehensive. Lloyd knocked on the door; she hardly heard it.

The next few minutes blurred together to Presea. Ryoko opening the door, going inside, talking, all these events bled into a horribly nervous mess to Presea. And then, it ended. She suddenly realized no one was talking anymore. As if coming out of a fog, she was horrified to realize they were all clutching their chests and trying to breathe. Presea noticed it too-a choking feeling in the throat.

Presea started to get up to help them, but she was losing it too fast. She suddenly remembered her dream: _She knows something is wrong. She must stop it. She must find the circulator, or they will die._ Almost reluctantly she left the apartment and breathed deep fresh air from outside. Once her head had cleared and her respiration had returned to normal, she wondered what she should do next. She thought of her dream. What had the next part said? _She must use the abandoned path, open the back door. _That was it. Seeing the manager's office, she sprinted towards it in the hopes she could learn where the circulator was. Maybe for the air conditioning?

She threw open the door, startling a person behind a desk. "Are you the manager?" she asked. The man nodded and began to speak, but Presea cut him off. Not willing to take the chance he'd refuse, she focused her will on him and asked him where the air conditioning circulator for Phase 2 was.

"The fifth floor," he said.

"Is there some sort of back way in?" she asked.

"Sure," he said. "Apartment 105 is empty. There's stairs leading into the fifth floor from that apartment."

Dropping her hold on his mind, she thanked him and whisked out the door. Up the stairs to apartment 105 she ran, shoving open the locked door and bounding up the wooden ladder-like stairs into the pitch black attic. She heard the hum of machinery, and felt the presence of another person. She shivered; whoever was up here felt cold and ruthless. A sinister laugh that could barely be heard above the air conditioning units floated over to her.

"Yes," said a voice, distinctly male. "I feel you here too."

"Who are you?" asked Presea as she stepped into the darkness.

The shaft of light behind her disappeared with a slam. The male voice laughed again and spoke.

"You know who I am, dear," the man's voice said. "I haven't finished what I began with you. Now you're going to help me get what I want."

Presea's face hardened. "I sincerely doubt that," she said. She unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and ignited it. The energy blade basked the long room in blue light, and for the first time she got a good look at where she was. The fifth floor was one big room above the fourth floor. The roof was supported by beams placed at regular intervals. In between the beams were air conditioning units, which all fed into a main unit in the center of the huge room. Out from behind that unit and from Presea's past stepped a nightmare.

"You!" said Presea, an old flame of anger and pain rekindling.

Abyssion looked at the weapon she grasped in her hands tightly and frowned. He said nothing.

"What do you want from me?" she asked shortly.

Abyssion seemed to have forgotten she was there. "You're my only hope now," he said coldly. "Once the Necronomicon was destroyed, I had no way of reviving Nebilim again. Besides which, I think he was utterly destroyed. However, when I came to, I still had the weapons. Hopefully, they'll bond to you and I can use you to channel their power into me."

"And you think I'm just going to let that happen," Presea said flatly.

Abyssion smiled evilly. "It would be easier," he said.

Presea snorted, and attacked. Abyssion produced a sword in the shape of flowing fire that crackled with electrical energy and blocked Presea's blow. Without missing a beat she whirled around and struck at his flank. He jumped and slashed at her head. She ducked out of the way and spun to meet his sword as he swung it down at her. She spun back around and leapt over an air conditioning unit. _He's good_, she thought. _That much I can tell._ She studied him closely as he circled slowly in one direction while she went the other. _When he isn't attacking_, she noted_, he holds his weapon pretty loosely. That is probably my best chance. I've got to end this soon._

Presea suddenly lunged forward, stabbing at Abyssion's chest. He knocked her blade aside, sidestepped and swung at her back. She pivoted and brought her hands over her head, putting her lightsaber over her shoulder and blocking the strike. They spun apart and their blades met again with a sparking noise. She shoved him back and he began to walk back to her slowly. _Now's my chance!_ she thought.

"You are strong," he said. "But not strong enough."

"Perhaps not," she said. "But you have no idea what I can do."

She thrust out her hand and reached out with the Holy Force. Abyssion's blade left his hand and smacked into her palm. She gripped it firmly and hurled it back at her stunned attacker. Abyssion uttered a choked cry as it sunk into his chest and began to fry him with electricity. He sparked and sputtered, until there was a great thunderclap and a blinding flash of light. "NOOOOO!" screamed Abyssion with his last breath.

The bright flare faded away and Presea could see that the only solid thing left of Abyssion's body was a charred piece of black ashes smoldering on the floor. Presea grimaced and turned away from it. She jogged over to the main unit, which she presumed to be the circulator, and inspected it. Immediately she could spot with her senses which piece of machinery did not belong. She frowned. It wasn't attached to the main unit. She followed her senses and found it was attached to one of the smaller subunits. She shrugged; she had to admit, she really didn't know that much about air conditioning. Guided by the Holy Force, she extracted the foreign device and deactivated it. She took it downstairs with her and set it down outside Ryoko's door. Hesitantly, she opened the door and entered.

The air smelled fresh and she could breathe fine. Everyone was passed out in seats or on the floor. She checked their pulses and their breathing; everyone was alive and seemed to be well. She sighed in relief and called the hospital.

"When will they be out?" asked Sheena worriedly.

"Soon," replied Presea. "The doctors say there shouldn't be any permanent damage, so they'll be released in a day or so. However, they do want to keep Ryoko a while longer, since she was exposed to the toxin longer."

"What was the toxin?" asked Yuan. Presea shrugged.

"Not sure, really," she said. "I retrieved the machine that was dispensing it and gave the hospital a sample to study. I showed the device to the Arbiter but he had no idea what it was, so I'll probably give it to the government or something. Or maybe I'll just destroy it. I'm not sure."

"Was anyone else affected by it?" asked Kratos.

Presea shook her head. "No," she said. "Apparently it was only set to poison Ryoko. Abyssion must have known that we would have tried to help her and set a trap to lure me there."

"But why go through all the trouble?" Genis wondered aloud. "Why didn't he just confront you?" Presea shrugged again.

"I don't know that either," she said. "Perhaps he thought he would have some sort of bargaining piece with Ryoko and the others in his grasp. Whatever it was, I'm just glad it's all over."

Martel nodded. "I'm sure," she said.


	10. Chapter 10

"Whatever happened to those two elves?" asked Colette as she came down the stairs. Ryoko put her finger to her lips.

Shizuma and the Arbiter stared at each other from across the table. Neither of them blinked or moved a muscle.

"How long have they been like this?" whispered Colette in Ryoko's ear. Ryoko looked at her watch and did a little mental math.

"About an hour," she said.

"Wow," said Colette. "What's wrong with them?"

Ryoko shrugged. "Dunno," she said. "They've been like this, just looking at each other. Neither of them have said anything. No one knows why they're like that."

All of Ryoko's and Colette's friends were gathered around the table, murmuring softly, speculating as to what this could all be about. A hush fell over them as Shizuma slowly raised a finger to point at the Arbiter.

"I know this guy somehow," he said after a minute or two of pointing. "I thought you looked familiar that one time I came over here, and I'm sure I know you somehow. I just can't place my finger on it..."

The Arbiter made a strange gurgling growl. "Yes, there is something quite familiar about you, no doubt," he said. "Where could I have possibly seen you, though?"

"That's what I was wondering!" said Shizuma. "Maybe I met you in a past life or something...?" The Arbiter made a strange gesture, and Shizuma looked confused.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the Arbiter said. "I believe you do something like this?" He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, heh heh!" said Shizuma. "Yeah. I don't really believe in that, I was just...ah, nevermind. Heyyy...wait, ummm...failsafes!" Shizuma looked confused.

"Failsafes?" said the Arbiter. "Failsafes. Fail. Safes. Fail-safes. Like on a Covenant weapon...hmmmm..."

The small crowd began to murmur again. Something was happening.

"What do you know about failsafes on these weapons?" asked Shizuma excitedly, rising out of his chair slightly and leaning forward. He clenched his fists and grinned. "We're almost there!"

"Ummmm, uh, well," said the Arbiter, "the failsafes prevent Covenant weapons from being turned off. They also cause the weapon to destroy itself if an enemy tries to open or use it. There is another failsafe, also. When a specific signal is broadcasted on a certain frequency, it can turn the weapons on or off, such as in the case of...a...rebellion..." The Arbiter stopped speaking, but his mouth was still open. Shizuma stared back at him, slackjawed as well.

"What happened?" someone whispered. No one answered, for at that moment the two seated at the table suddenly began to speak again.

"Th-th-th-that!" said Shizuma.

"Was, um," said the Arbiter. "Was, uh, weird.

"So, what, yeah, okay," Shizuma mumbled. "Ohhhhkay. You sold the guns to me."

"Then I told you how to turn them off..." said the Arbiter.

"TO HELP ALL OF US!" declared Shizuma, jumping out of his seat and throwing his hands up in the air. "HA HA HA! I remember it all!" Shizuma dug his fingers into his head and groaned. "Holy crap, man! That's the weirdest thing that's ever got to have happened in the history of forever!"

"You remember?" said Ryoko. "Remember what?"

"You mean you actually remember everything that happened!" exclaimed Raine, grabbing ahold of Shizuma's arms excitedly. He clutched her arms back and nodded, eyes wide and broad smile trembling. It didn't look like he was breathing. "This is incredible!" she breathed. "It's damn well near impossible!"

"What's going on!" asked Zelos plaintively. Raine and Shizuma didn't answer. They just jumped up and down, squealing with glee. Zelos watched them, and soon it dawned on him.

"This guy," he said slowly, "he remembers what happened when we were in the place with the thing, where we flew the planes and blew up the deal?"

"Yep," said Lloyd. "Or so it seems. That's what I gathered, anyhow. Kinda funny, ain't it?"

"Funny?" said Genis.

"You know what I mean!" said Lloyd, exasperated. "Not ha-ha-ha funny. Like, weird funny. Like coincidence funny. Like that."

"You said 'like' a lot right then," said Sheena.

"Do I always?" asked Lloyd, a little too self-consciously.

Sheena shrugged. "Dunno, I guess not, since I never noticed it before," she said. Lloyd frowned and wondered.

Raine and Shizuma stopped jumping a calmed down just a little bit. "This is fantastic!" said Raine. "Do you realize what's happened? As if we hadn't broken enough laws of time and space, we just broke another! You should never have had the memory of the future! That should be impossible!"

"Yet here we are with our memories," said the Arbiter.

"What do you remember about what happened the day we destroyed the tower?" Raine half-asked, half-demanded of Shizuma and the Arbiter.

Shizuma looked at the Arbiter and shrugged. "I-I don't know," he admitted. "My memory sorta just ends. I remember talking to you guys outside of the tower, I remember watching it fall down, and then...I don't know. Nothing. You know how it is, like, you watch a video of something, and you remember in general what happens, like a building blows up, or a car crashes or sumthin', but you don't remember exactly how it happened, what went where and in exactly what sequence things happened, you know? And it's really weird, 'cause these memories, they're just sort of...there...it's like they're just...gah, I guess just _in there_ somewhere. Like...like as if it was just a story that I picked up somewhere: I forgot _where and when_ I learned it, but the story stuck with me. I dunno. Something like that."

"I, too, must claim similarly," said the Arbiter.

"Do I say 'like' a lot?" asked Lloyd.

"This is fascinating," said Raine, eyes bright and eager. "Ohhhhh, this boggles the mind!"

"What's 'boggle' mean?" asked Lloyd.

"Hey, maybe then it's possible to unlock Ranma and Ryoko and them's memories," suggested Genis.

"That's a good idea, Genis," said Regal.

"Why is everyone ignoring me?" asked Lloyd.

"How would we do that?" asked Kratos. "We told them the entire story but not once did anyone profess to remember anything."

"Perhaps they need a trigger," offered Botta. "Shizuma apparently found one in the Arbiter."

Sheena leaned over and whispered in Lloyd's ear, "It's because they know better than that." Lloyd looked at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking hurt.

Sheena just ignored him.

"So you're saying we should find triggers for the other people who were with us?" asked Shizuma.

"Well, not need," said Raine. "It would be interesting to see if we could do it, but it's by no means necessary."

Sheena half heard them. She hadn't really thought back to that lost time when they were in that dismal state of this world. Now she had, and she remembered something that bothered her, something that she thought shouldn't have happened. Unfortunately, try as she might to rack her brain, she couldn't pin it down. Lloyd noticed the struggled look on her face, and put his arm around her as he whispered in her ear.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Sheena didn't answer for a moment. Then she shook her head and sighed resignedly.

"I was just thinking," she said, "about that time...when we were stuck in that dark place, right? Well, there's something nagging me about that time...something that bothers me, and I can't really remember exactly what it was...do you remember anything that seemed..._off_...to you?"

Lloyd frowned and thought. "I can't really say," he admitted. "I don't know what it would be, to tell the truth. Maybe you should try remembering what happened in order."

Sheena went over everything, one event by one, and still she shook her head no. "I still don't know what it is," she said worriedly. "It's there, I just can't..._grasp _it." She sighed.

Lloyd frowned, then brightened. "You know," he said, "a hot bath always helps me think. Maybe it might be good to visit the bath house."

Sheena nodded slowly. "Maybe you're right," she said finally. "I guess I will. Wanna come with?" Lloyd shrugged.

"Sure, I got nothin' else to do," he said. Colette and Genis overheard them and had moved over close to them.

"Where're you guys going?" asked Genis.

"To the bath house," said Lloyd. "You guys can come, but we're gonna leave now, so you better get ready quick."

"That sounds great!" said Colette. "I'll go get ready. Be back in a minute."

"I guess I could come," Genis said. "Be right back."

The two of them bounded upstairs and into their rooms. Lloyd popped his neck while he waited. Sheena shivered.

"What?" asked Lloyd.

"That's just so..." Sheena moved her head in a circle, looking for the right word.

"Gross?" Lloyd suggested. "No it's not. It feels good! You should try it sometime."

Sheena just shuddered again. Colette and Genis returned, and they left.

Sheena eased herself into the water and sighed as the water lapped at her neck. She placed a washcloth on her head, closed her eyes, and did exactly the opposite of what her brain wanted to do: think. Or, at least, she tried. No matter how relaxing the bath might be, how soothing the heat, how therapeutic the moisture, she could not help but fret over some silly thing she couldn't remember. Her brow furrowed.

Opening her eyes and turning her head, she saw Colette smiling at her.

"Don't worry," she said. "If it's important, you'll think of it sooner or later."

Sheena smiled and closed her eyes again. "Thanks, Colette," she said. "I hope you're right, because this is really ticking me off."

"Two days' homework says she won't think of it," said Genis on the other side of the bath house.

Lloyd looked at him with one eye and said, "Huh?"

"I'll bet you," said Genis slowly, "that Sheena won't think of what she's trying to think of. If I win, you do my homework for two days. Same if I lose."

Lloyd shook his head sadly. "Genis," said Lloyd, "I am MARRIED to that hellcat, and you think I don't know her that well? Besides, this was my idea, so it's bound to work!" They both shared a laugh at that. Then Lloyd continued. "No, no, no, make it five days, and you're on."

Genis thought a moment, then raised his hand out of the water and presented it to Lloyd, who shook it. "Deal," Genis said.

Just then they both heard a shout of "THAT'S IT!" come from the women's side of the bath house, and all the men looked in that direction with a confused and startled look.

"I tried to warn you," said Lloyd.

Genis chuckled. "Not like your homework is all that hard," he said slyly.

Lloyd laughed. "Yeah, I guess it's HEY!" he said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Genis laughed harder and Lloyd splashed him playfull with water. "Dork," he said.

The women all stared at Sheena, who had suddenly risen out of the water and thrown her hands in the air. Colette looked up at her from her seat in the water. Sheena looked back down at her, and then back up at the other women. She lowered her arms and then sat back down, her cheeks red with embarrassment.

"So you thought of it!" said Colette. Sheena nodded. "Well, what is it?"

"Do you remember the time we fought those things in that crater with the mana rock?" asked Sheena. Colette nodded. "Well, do you remember how it ended?"

"Yeah, how could I forget?" said Colette. "You summoned Aska and Luna and they..." Colette cut off and her eyes grew wide. "You don't think...?" she whispered. Sheena nodded.

"I do," she said. "My Summon Spirits may be the key home, but..."

"But what?" asked Colette, shifting her weight slightly.

"But, I'm not sure how it'll work," she said. "Both the earth and our world(s) got rewound back in time, according to Botta and Raine. So wouldn't that mean that in our world I haven't made the pact yet? Or does time not apply to Summon Spirits? But how would that..." Sheena broke off and rubbed her temples. She resumed after a moment. "I don't know if it'll work. As unlikely as it was at that time, it's almost certainly more unlikely to happen now. And even if I can summon one, then what? Our world is still back in time, so what's going on? Do we exist over there or not? We don't know...we don't even know how bad we've screwed things up yet. If we've totally removed ourselves from that world, in space and in time, then our world could be in deep trouble if we're not around to stop Cruxis. And...never mind. The point is, there's too much we don't know. I think...I think the first thing I'll do is try to summon a Summon Spirit. If it works, I'll ask it what it knows and if there's anything it can do. But first things first: just to see if I can summon one."

Colette nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me," she said.

Sheena was about to answer her when a strong premonition struck her. She grabbed Colette's head and shoved her under as she too ducked beneath the water. They heard a slightly muffled thunderclap and the screams of women. Sheena and Colette resurfaced to find the bath house in pandemonium, bathers screaming and running for the exits. Sheena and Colette turned around and saw a rough, round hole punched into the wall where Sheena's head had been resting. Sheena paled.

Colette grabbed Sheena's shoulder and turned her back around. "Look!" she exclaimed, pointing. A person in a white bath robe stood in the door, a black pistol in hand. Sheena growled and leapt out of the water, Colette trailing her. The person in the robe turned to run. Sheena grabbed a towel and hastily wrapped it around herself. That done, she sprinted after the gunman, down a white corridor, leading to the men's side. The chase had not lasted more than a few seconds when an arm appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the robed person's neck. He or she flew backwards and Sheena sidestepped the toppling body as she skidded to a halt. The person twisted and landed on the floor face first, groaning. Sheena looked at the arm and saw it was attached to Lloyd, who was dripping wet with a towel around his waist held by his other hand. He looked at Sheena and lowered his arm. He came up to her, grasped her shoulder and asked if she was okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered. She kissed him quickly and turned her attention back to the floored attacker, who was coughing and struggling to get up. Sheena scowled and walked over to the person. She grabbed the attacker's robe, pulled him or her to his or her feet and turned the person around. "Who are you!" she demanded. The robe's hood fell over the person's face. Sheena took it in her hand and threw it back. Sheena gasped. "You!"


	11. Chapter 11

The face of Laurelindae stared back at Sheena. There was a dull, glazed look in her dim, sickly eyes that did not blink. Sheena face went from angry to concerned. "I-it's that elf girl," she said finally. "But...but there's something wrong with her."

"What do you mean?" asked Lloyd. Sheena turned her to face Lloyd.

"Look at her eyes," Sheena said. Lloyd did, and his brow furrowed and his mouth dropped open slightly.

"Huh," he said. Suddenly, as he watched, something changed. Her body moved slightly, and there was a flash in her eyes. The hand in which she held the gun moved slowly, straight for her own head. Sheena saw and snatched the gun out of her hand. The hand fell limp. "It's like she just got a message that said, 'kill yourself now'." Lloyd mused.

Genis and Colette just now caught up with their friends. "What's going on?" asked Genis. He saw Laurelindae and fell silent.

"She tried to shoot me," said Sheena. "But it looks like she's not even in control...like she's a puppet."

"Whose puppet?" asked Colette.

"The Orcs," said a male voice behind them. They turned.

Behind them stood Elemenduil, grim faced, a gun in one hand and a bloody mess in the other. "Elemenduil?" said Lloyd. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Yes," he said. "But we shouldn't stay here. The police will arrive soon. Hurry and get dressed, and then we must go." While they were dressing, Elemenduil walked over to Laurelindae, who had not seen him because she was turned the other way, and pulled out a pair of pliers.

Elemenduil shoved open the doors and stepped out into sunlight, his wife in tow. He blinked as his eyes adjusted. He took long strides, walking hurriedly with the four friends behind him. Laurelindae's face was blank, and she made little effort to walk. Sheena jogged to catch up with Elemenduil.

"Can you tell me what shot was about? The one while we were dressing?" she asked of him when she caught up.

Elemenduil did not break his stride. "No," he said. "We can't waste time. I'll tell you when we get to your house." Sheena nodded, her mouth open, panting with exertion. Then she grasped what he said.

"How do you know where we live?" she asked.

Elemenduil spared not a glance back at her. "It will become clear when we get there," he said, and left it at that.

Elemenduil sighed as he settled down in the dark wood chair. He stretched his muscles and popped his bones, sighed again, and rested his hands on his knees. Everyone who had gathered around Shizuma and the Arbiter now gathered around Elemenduil and his wife, who sat motionless at her husband's feet, expressionless eyes half-lidded.

"I know," began Elemenduil, "that some of you wonder what happened to us after we rescued Ryoko. In the confusion, it is quite understandable that you did not notice our absence. However, the truth was we, in turn, were captured. The Orcs had us outnumbered and cornered. We had no choice but to surrender or die. Normally they kill captives, but they had developed something they wanted to try, and we thus became their test subjects. For this." He held up something that looked like a thin screw with tiny prongs on the head. It was encrusted with blood. "They had these drilled into our heads. Then they let us into a room and proceeded to test their invention. I do not know what effect it had on Laurelindae, but as for myself, I felt very strong urges to do certain things, for instance to walk in a certain direction, or pick up something. I figured they had created some sort of mind-control device, but it malfunctioned with me. Or so I assume. I mean, why give your slave any free will at all? Yet I was free, only when they told me to do things, I very much wanted to them. So I played along. When they were satisfied that their devices worked, they sent us on field work. They had us spy on you. I imagine they must have some sort of way of observing by way of the device, for I never reported to anyone or in any way let anyone know what I learned. Anyhow, naturally, I did what I was told, for I figured if they saw me not doing what they commanded, they would come after me. So I concluded that what I had to do was to make it look like I was killed and take out the device then. I once had to use a pair of pliers for their work, so I said to myself that that would have to do. So, anyways, what I believe happened is that the Orcs thought that Sheena was on the verge of discovering something important, and had us follow you to the bath house. On the way there, we had to cross a busy street. So what I did was I let Laurelindae cross first, then when the light changed I pretended to trip and I threw myself in front of a car. The car was going quite fast and I didn't have much time to work, but I managed to take the pliers out, grip the machine, and yank it out while at the same time rolling out of the way of the car. I was amazed I was able to do it without getting killed. Then I went into the bath house to look for Laurelindae, and I just got in the door when I heard a shot. I feared the worst and ran into and looked all over for her. And that's when we ran into you. While you were dressing, I fired the gun and pulled out her implant. But nothing's changed yet."

Elemenduil drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then he looked down and played with his wife's hair. "So that's what happened to us," he said suddenly. He raised his head and looked at Sheena. "Maybe you know what it was you found out that you weren't supposed to?"

"Well, you did say 'that's it' really loud, Sheena," Colette reminded her. "Was it that, maybe?"

"Oh yeaaahhhhh!" said Sheena. "I just remembered something that I completely overlooked earlier! Do you guys remember when we fought those monsters in the mana crater?" She saw most of the heads around her nod. "Well, remember how it ended? I summoned Aska and Luna and they killed them. I summoned them, from Symphonia, over to Earth. So I was thinking maybe I could summon them and they could take us back home!" The Symphonians began to talk excitedly, but Raine silenced them by clearing her throat.

"I hate to be Mrs. Bringdown," she said, "but I have an observation to make. That time, all you had to deal with was the barrier between worlds. Now you have that barrier plus the time barrier. If Symphonia got sent back in time like the Earth, then it's likely that Sheena's pacts haven't even been made yet. And even if we could summon them, there's no guarantee they could get us back home. We just don't know."

The Symphonians became quiet and subdued. No one said a word; they just sat with their heads bowed. Finally Zelos broke the silence. "We don't know," he said slowly, "but I'd be willing to bet the Orcs do. Why else would they try to kill Sheena? It must be because they know something we don't. And besides, it couldn't hurt to try."

"That's quite sound reasoning, Zelos," said Regal. "While they might have had something else in mind, that's certainly a good possibility."

"So what are you suggesting?" asked Ryoko, though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

Zelos leaned forward in his chair. "We're gonna find out what they know," said he.

"LLOYD!"

Presea woke up to find she was on her hands and knees in her room in the middle of the night. Hot tears gushed from her eyes as she sobbed. She faintly heard the door open and shut again. "Presea?"

She looked up to see Lloyd there, his face wrought with worry. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, kneeling down. She threw herself into Lloyd, who caught her surprisedly. She cried a long time; Lloyd could not say how long he sat there, holding the little woman while she soaked his shirt with her tears. He closed his eyes, stroked her hair and comforted her. Eventually he noticed a lessening in the flood of weeping, and she stirred in his arms.

"Lloyd," she said in a choked voice, "don't throw your life away. We'd all rather die together than be seperated by life and death."

Confused, Lloyd shook his head. "What are you talking about?" he asked. Presea burrowed her head into his chest and clutched the back of his shirt in her hands.

"I had a dream," she said at last. "It was...worse than anything I've ever had before. The worst fear I've ever felt. I dreamt...I dreamt that you died. We were all there...there was an underground tunnel, and we were running down it, we were being chased. Then you stopped, and turned around. Sheena saw you and stopped too. She ran to you, screaming your name. She caught you by the arms and asked if she could stay too. You smiled and said, 'I can't take it.' Then you shoved Sheena away and closed a set of doors. Sheena pounded on them, before she got dragged away by one of us and then we ran into a blinding light...and that was it." She heaved a sigh and continued. "Lloyd...I used to just have dreams. But not anymore. If I ever have a dream...it's of the past, the present, or the future. It's never anything random. This wasn't the past, or the present, so it has to be the future. But please..." She looked up at Lloyd with bleary red eyes. "Please don't let this come true. Don't go where we can't follow..." She began to cry again, and Lloyd rubbed her back soothingly.

"There, there," he said. "I don't want that future, to be sure. But sometimes, things have to be done for the greater good. And if it becomes a situation like that...I don't...I don't think I'd be strong enough."

"Of course not!" cried Presea. "They'd kill you!"

"No," said Lloyd. "That's not what I meant." Presea lifted her head and sniffled.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she asked. Lloyd's face was somber.

"I don't think I'd be strong enough to let anyone else go to that fate," he said. "I myself am not afraid to die; I am afraid for my friends to die. There are a lot of things I can endure. But that's not one of them. No. I might be able to let them be tortured if I knew it was for the greater good, but to lose them forever...no. No, I could not do that. It's too...it's too much for me. Just the thought..."

He closed his eyes and shook his head. Twin tears escaped from his tightly shut eyelids and his mouth curled up in a scowl of pain. Then he sighed and picked up Presea. He carried her over to her bed and set her down in it. "You should get some sleep," he said tiredly. He turned to leave and was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Don't go," said Presea. "I don't want to sleep alone." Lloyd blinked back new, sudden tears and nodded. Presea drew up her knees and Lloyd climbed in next to her, pulling the sheets up.

"Hold me," she said. For a moment, he did not move, and then she felt him shift on the bed as he put his arms around her and pressed her into his body. She gripped one of his hands tightly. "Don't leave me," she whispered pleadingly.

There was a sickening silence, followed by two syllables: "I won't."

She desperately hoped he meant it.

Alcohol. It was Zelos' idea of "releasing the tension." Since Sheena had tried to summon the Summon Spirits and had failed each time, it was decided that they would have to return to the Orc's base. This little operation was to take place in two days' time, and so this party was thrown to get every relaxed and ready.

However, it just wasn't working for Lloyd. He leaned forward against the railing of a second-story balcony, staring out into the night. A glass of rum and coke chilled his hand, and the weight of a thousand heavy cares rested on his face. He could hear them inside, having a good time. Lloyd wished he could have a good time right now. But some things, he thought, cannot be drowned in liquor.

He slowly took a swallow and then let the glass go back down, to possibly return at a later time. By now, his body was everything, and it was nothing. Such paradoxes are common of those drunk and or in deep thought. Lloyd couldn't tell whither he was; he only knew he felt worse than he ever had before, and he couldn't tell if he was entirely miserable or if he was secretly enjoying it.

Lloyd raised his head slightly at a sound from behind him; a second's attention told him it was Kratos. He came up next to his son and leaned against the railing with him. He sighed, and turned his head to look at Lloyd.

"Hello, son," he said. Lloyd's eyes fell to the ground.

"Hey dad," he whispered back.

Kratos looked back out over the city. Lloyd silently joined him in gazing at the twinkling lights of Japan. A quiet breeze ruffled their hair and knocked a silvery wind chime about gently. No one spoke for a long time. Kratos shifted on his feet and cocked his head slightly.

"Lloyd," he said. Lloyd looked up at him.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"I do not know exactly what it is," Kratos said slowly, "but I just wanted to let you know that there is no point in worrying about it."

Lloyd continued to watch Tokyo. "Oh?" he said.

"If it is in the past," Kratos said, "then there is nothing you can do to change it. If it is in the future, then you still have time to change how things will turn out. And if it is in the present, then take comfort in the fact that you have learned a valuable lesson and that it will soon pass. So there really is no reason to worry."

Lloyd snorted. "Tell the rest of me that," he said. "I think just my ears heard it."

Kratos eyes softened. "Lloyd," said Kratos, "I know that sometimes we cannot help ourselves. But you should try to have fun while you still can. The more time you use worrying, the less you have for doing. Your concerns are eating up your time. You've just got to realize that there's a use for the backburner-to keep things fresh, but not in your way. So why don't you try to set these things aside, and come in and try to have a little fun, hm?"

Lloyd did not move. Kratos looked at him compassionately. Finally Lloyd heaved a sigh and pushed himself back from the railing.

"I suppose you're right," he said. "I guess I'll give it a try. Thanks...dad."

Kratos smiled. "You're welcome," he said, his voice sounding only a little choked.

Lloyd walked inside and was assaulted by music and light. "Hey Lloyd!" said Sheena, a drunk grin on her face and a bottle of something or other in her hand. "Come on! Lesss...go make out...or sumthin'..." She laughed and pitched forward into his arms. He caught her with a laugh and took the bottle from her.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked.

"Well," said Lloyd, taking out the cork with his teeth and spitting it out, "I don't think I've had enough..." He lifted the bottle and glanced at the label. "Rum...to be in the mood for that."

He threw his head back and took long swallows.

"Well then less go dance or sumthin' til you get yur...mojo or whatever," Sheena said, and she laughed hysterically as she tripped over herself going into the living room. Lloyd followed her.

A lot more people than Lloyd expected were here; not only was his household here, but almost everyone else they knew was here too, except for the older adults Ranma knew. Most were dancing, but some were occupied with other activities. Zelos and Colette were on a couch, half-naked and kissing like there was no tomorrow. It look like it could get farther any minute, so Regal insisted they find their room, which they somehow managed.

"Look at us, we're naked!" shouted a random assortment of nude people from the second floor, made of Shizuma, Kuno, Presea, Nabiki, and Ryoko. Everyone turned to look and they jumped off. They caught everyone except Shizuma, whom they let hit the floor, where he laid giggling. Then they picked him up and threw him in a closet for no reason. They could still hear him laughing.

Lloyd's chest was burning by now, and his head swam a little. Everything was funny, and his drive was full to the max, all inhibitions now dissolved with rum. "Are ya feelin' it now, babe?" asked Sheena. Lloyd's eyes went wide and he nodded yes. Sheena grinned and pulled him upstairs, into their room, and they were not seen for the rest of the night.

Regal woke to Sheena screaming. However, it was soon followed by Lloyd's hysterical laughter, so he smiled and relaxed, letting his arm fall back around Raine. It was then that he noticed Kratos sitting in a chair near the door to their room. He was holding a large sketchbook and a pencil.

Seeing Regal was awake, he said, "Good morning," and lowered his pencil.

"Were you drawing us?" asked Regal.

Kratos nodded. "It came out better than I anticipated," he said. "Here, look." He got up, moved towards Regal, and turned his book around.

"Wow," whispered Regal. "It...it's beautiful!" The drawing was of Regal and Raine, both nude, leaning against each other in sleep, slight smiles on their faces and sheets thrown loosely across their legs. Regal took the pad and studied the drawing closely.

"I never knew you were an artist," said Regal after a minute or two as he handed the sketchbook back. "Where did you learn that?"

Kratos turned his head and closed his eyes, as if pained. "When you live as long as I have," he said, "you have time to learn a lot of things."

Regal simply nodded. It was then that they heard Zelos shouting.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zelos cried. "I figured it out!"

"Zelos!" said Lloyd, taking his friend by the shoulder. "What did you figure out?"

Zelos was so excited he could scarcely utter a word, but his eyes were on fire and his lips trembled. "What didn't I figure out!" he said at last. "Oh man oh man oh man, I did it!"

"ZELOS!" screamed Raine. "TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW BEFORE I DO SOMETHING IRRATIONAL!"

The whole house fell into complete and total silence. Zelos nodded a couple times, took some deep breaths, rubbed his hands together, and began.

"Okay," he said, "so it happened like this: I got up this morning and I was real bored, like always. So I started up the computer to play a game I was playing. And I was playin', and I got real far, and then Lloyd comes in and says, 'Oh, there's a hard part coming up, you'd better save', cuz, like, he already beat the game? So then I was like, 'Yeah, that's a good idea, I mean if something goes wrong, I can start right back there.' And then, something amazing happened. I don't know if it was a random thought that led me around or what, but I think I've figured out what the whole deal with everything that's happened to us since that thing. You know, the twisted future no-time thing place."

Everyone leaned in closer. He grinned, and Raine scowled at him. He stopped grinning and continued.

"So here's my theory, and tell me what you guys think: I think that time, based off of what we've seen and stuff, is kind of like video game time. Let me explain, okay? In a video game, you go pretty much in chronological order, like in real life. Now, what's different is the reset button, right? If you save, and then you die or lose or whatever, then you can always go back to the save point, right? So, if the characters in the game were real, when you go back to the save point, they don't know that they just died and came back, and have done so many times. They would believe they did everything right the first time. But you know. The one who resets it knows. So if real time is like that, then maybe when Cruxis created that weird tower that screwed up everything they somehow created a save point. And when we blew it up, it was like going back to that save point. And then we knew how to do it right. And that's how those people could get those memories back, cuz if you think about it it's actually in our past, and since it happened in the past, you could recover them, but because the time _period_ was the future, it didn't seem possible...are you following me here? You get what I'm saying though, right?"

They all nodded. "A fascinating proposal, Zelos," said Yuan. "I never would have thought of that."

"But wait," said Colette. "You said that we knew how to do it right, right? Am I right to say that you were talking about when that freak accident killed Cruxis?"

"Yes, my darling," said Zelos.

"But we didn't do anything about that," said Colette.

"Perhaps it was not an accident," said Kratos quietly.

"But then who?" asked Presea. "We had no knowledge of where they were, nor did Ranma or Ryoko or their friends."

"Summon Spirits," said Sheena. She shrugged when they looked at her. "It's all I could think of. They're the guardians of the world, right? Anyways, if what Zelos says is true, then I'm thinking that since I actually already made the pacts, then I should be able to summon."

"Haven't you already tried?" asked Genis.

"Well, yes," said Sheena, "but remember what it was like last time? There was that huge chunk of mana right there. I think that concentrated mana gave me the extra boost I needed to summon from this world."

"I see what you're saying," said Botta, "but where are we going to find anything like that?

"Maybe the Orcs know," said Elemenduil. "Besides, my wife is...well..."

"Yes," said Raine. "We're still going."


End file.
